Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-07-05
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ing extra intelligence.
How "Cunning'' Is Used.

in the same way. Mrs. Stowe speaks
of some cunning little tubs in the
window" She meant that they were
pretty, attractive from their clever
rightness, expressing the intelligence
Of the maker. A cunning child means,
bright" and attractive one. Cum
ming, too, almost always connotes that
which is small. A cunning house
would mean a pretty little house,
convenient and unlike other houses.
All these uses plainly hint the true
meaning of the word, ability and skill,
though it is now held to be more cor
rect as applied to ability at work Sc
cretly, for wrong purposes. But the
original definition of the noun was
simply learning, special knowledge or
practical skill and deXterity, clever
ness. This is the meaning in, eff I
forget thee, o jerusalem let my right
hand forget her cunning"
Even Americans now consider the
word col10quial when APPLIED to works
Of skill and dexterity, yet this use
seems to be survival of the early
word and not mere American careless
ness. Clever, on the other hand, has
also become an Americanism, with
the adoption, also. of a better mea2-
ing than the accredited definition al
lows. In the American vernacular
clever means kind or gentle. Then
the possessor of manual and mental
abilities or cleverness was supposed
to be necessarily kind and gentle. The
"clever" horse was probably at first
one which knew enough to behave it.
self.
The clever neighbor was one who
knew how to come to the aid of his
friends at all sorts of crises of pio-
neer days. Gradually he came to be
the kind neighbor. At least this seems
to be a reasonable explanation of this
Americanism. The Boston Post-Boy
in 1868, in a bit of rhyme, set "cross
and clever" folk together as antithe-
ses. Daniel Webster wrote: "He is
what we call in New England a clever
fellow, a good-natured, kind-hearted,
amiable and obliging." This bears
out the sense of neighborly kindness
touched on above.
About COlloquil "Cleverness."
So in Life in Prairie Land: "It's
reckon you'll hardly find 'em up when
you get there; but they're right c!ev-
err, and won't make no account Of git
tin up, if they take you in" Again,
"He was very clever man and used
to do everything for his neighbors
for nothing"
Bee, meaning the meeting OF a
number of persons at common task
is one of the most characteristic OF
American words. 1t is applied, OF
course, from the community work OF
bees and sprang up in the country
when the neighbors helpfully gather
ed to husk corn or quilt, and the like
It hints alike the activity and the
neighborliness of early days. The
husking bee or quilting bee were oc-
cas;cns of social Importance. These
pioneers of American industry had
not time even to amuse themselves
except over definite task.
The bee was usually followed by a
supper, and an evening of dancing In
the barn or down the wide, old-fash-
toned kitchen. At an apple bee young
folk met to help prepare the apples
to be dried for the winter, and story
is told of how youngsters once hid in
he oven the apples they supposed to
have pared. When the boisterous
country dances began they shook the
| room till the oven door was swung
open and out bounced the apples
blushing their confusion.
Backwoods and backwoodsmen are
words whose adaptation to the pio-
neer need is evident. The colonies
fronted the sea and turned their faces
always eastward to the motaerland
This put the woods at their back ano
the farthest woods were the farthes'
back. The backwoodsman, moreover
knew little of what was going on al
/, the coast in the settlements that got
news from home. So backwoods.
man began to be one much behind
the times in manners and general in
/ formation.
! Undoubtedly it is bad policy in ho'