East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-10-09
OREGON OCTOBER

OplnlOn Dy SdylHBt Il uOH IKE lbV .
cut Of her jlb," and the expression
was transferred to the personal APP
pearance
Getting Into Scrape.'
Deer dig up land into holes, to the
depth of "A foot-these are called !
"scrapes." To fall into them often
means broken leg, hence when a
man finds himself in an unpleasant
position he is said to have got into
"A scrape."
II Would Go Through Fire and Wa
ter to Serve Him."
This saying Is relic of the old
trials by Ordeal-when trial by ordeal
Of fire and water was recognized by
English law, both ordeals could be
performed by deputy, sometimes done
for hire and sometimes for friend
ship. The ordeal Of fire was pass
ing bindfolded and barefooted
through a place where nine red hot
plough shares were arranged at ir-
regular intervals. In the trial by wa
ter the person to be rried was bound
hand and foot and thrown into a
pond or river. If he drowned that
was proof of guilt, and saying, 81
would go through fire and water"
was equivalent to saying that the per-
son using it was ready to sacrifice
life or limb to serve his friend.
AS Quick As You Could say Jack
RobinsOn.''
During the last of the eighteenth
century in England corruption was
notorious Jack Robinson, the Sec
retary of the treasury, was known to
use both patronage and money to
carry out his corrupt ministerial pol
| icy. Sheridan declared that MEM
! Der of the house was employed to cor
rupt everybody in order to secure
votes. Amid intense excitement
voices called out: Name him or
withdraw" Sheridan was in pre-
dcament, but his ready wit aided
him. sir" he answered "it would
be an unpleasant and invidious thing
to name the person and therefore
| shall not do it, But don't suppose
there would be any difficulty in nam
in him: | could do ii, sir, as quick as
you could say Jack Robinson.
Buying IA Pig in Poke
Some wags put cat in bag or
poke and sold it to countryman as
pig. Poke is still used for sack
in the south of England. Going 70
the tavern to have drinl: over the
bargain the buyer opened the bag
and the cat jumped out. Hence the
origin of the proverb, You should
never buy a pig in a poke" and "You
let the cat out of the ba5."
..Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
In 1850 several estates belonging to
Westminster Abbey were granted fol
the repair and sustenance of st
Paurs Cathedral. AS Westminstel
Abbey is dedicated to st. Peter, the
taking the abbey tunds for the bene'
fit of st. Paurs gave rise to the say
ing.
PIN Money"
| For long after the invention of pins
| in the fourteenth century, the make'
| was allowed to sell them only on th'
| first and second of January. The!
| were so expensive that only the ricl
/ could buy them and it became tn
| custom to give certain sum of mon
| ey to women at their marriage, TO
| puying pins and on the first and sec
| ond of January they flocked to TN
| stores with this pin money
II "Nine Tailors Make Man.
/ The church bells OF Leicestershir
Il tolling for the dead. the custom wa
Il nine tolls or te.lers to mark man
\ three times three, and three time
II two for a female on the tenor be-
and for children under twelve the tire
BILE bell was used and the old saying
Y mine tailors make a man. is cor
y ruption of mine tellers mark
man."
.Rains Cats and Dogs
' The blossoms of the willow tre'
| which were used on Palm sunday
represent the branches of the pain
| were called eats and dogs" in man
| parts of England. They increase
size rapidly after few warm SHOW
| ers and the belief prevailed that raj
J brought them. Hence the saying
rains cats and dogs.
mind Your Ps and Qs.'
EXPRESSION arose from the custoi
of chalking up behind alehouse
doors the rebts due from customer
in which the number of pints
quarts they owed were made by
stroke opposite the letters ''p" an
20"
al"
, In Lloyds list as first published tn
vessels were assigned to classes, de-
ignated by the letters A. f. l. Q.
which heferred to the vessels hull
y while the letters G. NJ. b, good
|, "middling" and bad" relate to II
: vessels equipment. Thus, \ G de
ignated a first class ship. Later II
= numerals. /, =, 8, 4, were adopted
| lnscrihn the nnnlifinn of the We