FOOTNOTES:

"See how thesurlyWarwick mans the wall."(3Henry VI., v. 1.)

"See how thesurlyWarwick mans the wall."

(3Henry VI., v. 1.)

LIST—MATELOT

Alist, in the sense of enumeration, is a "strip." The cognate German word isLeiste, border. We have the original meaning in "listslippers." Fr.bordereau, a list, which became very familiar in connection with the Dreyfus case, is a diminutive ofbord, edge.Labelis the same word as Old Fr.lambel(lambeau), rag.Scrollis an alteration, perhaps due toroll, of Mid. Eng.scroworescrow, from Old Fr.escroue,[71]rag, shred.Docket, earlierdogget, is from an old Italian diminutive ofdoga, cask-stave, which meant a bendlet in heraldry.Scheduleis a diminutive of Lat.scheda, "a scrowe" (Cooper), properly a strip of papyrus. Ger.Zettel, bill, ticket, is the same word. Thus all these words, more or less kindred in meaning, can be reduced to the primitive notion of strip or scrap.

Farce, from French, means stuffing. The verb tofarce, which represents Lat.farcire, survives in the pervertedforce-meat. A parallel issatire, from Lat.satura(lanx), a full dish, hence a medley. Somewhat similar is the modern meaning ofmagazine, a "store-house" of amusement or information.

The closest form of intimacy is represented by community of board and lodging, or, in older phraseology, "bed and board."Companion, with its related words, belongs to Vulgar Lat.*companio,companion-, bread-sharer. The same idea is represented by the pleonastic Eng.messmate, the second part of which,mate, is related tomeat.Mess, food, Old Fr.mes(mets), Lat.missum, is in modern English only military or naval, but was once the usual name for a dish of food—

"Herbs and other countrymessesWhich the neat-handed Phillis dresses."(Allegro, l. 85.)

"Herbs and other countrymessesWhich the neat-handed Phillis dresses."

(Allegro, l. 85.)

Withmatewe may compare Fr.matelot, earliermatenot,representing Du.maat, meat, andgenoot, a companion. The latter word is cognate with Ger.Genosse, a companion, fromgeniessen, to enjoy or use together. In early Dutch we find alsomattegenoet, through popular association withmatte, hammock, one hammock serving, by a Box and Cox arrangement, for two sailors.

Comradeis from Fr.camarade, and this from Span.camarada, originally a "room-full," called in the French armyune chambrée. This corresponds to Ger.Geselle, comrade, fromSaal, room. The reduction of the collective to the individual is paralleled by Ger.Bursche, fellow, from Mid. High Ger.burse, college hostel; cf.Frauenzimmer, wench, lit. women's room. It can hardly be doubted thatchumis a corrupted clip fromchamber-fellow.[72]It is thus explained in aDictionary of the Canting Crew(1690), within a few years of its earliest recorded occurrence, and the reader will remember Mr Pickwick's introduction to thechummagesystem in the Fleet (Ch. 42).

CUMMER—GREENHORN

Englishgossip, earliergod-sib, related in God, a sponsor, soon developed the subsidiary meanings of boon companion, crony, tippler, babbler, etc., all of which are represented in Shakespeare. The case of Fr.compèreandcommère, godfather and godmother, issimilar. Cotgrave explainscommérageas "gossiping; the acquaintance, affinity, or league that growes betweene women by christning a child together, or one for another." Ger.Gevatter, godfather, has also acquired the sense of Fr.bonhomme(p.80), Eng.daddy. Fromcommèrecomes Scot.cummerorkimmer—

"A canty quean was Kate, and a specialcummerof my ain."(Monastery, Ch. 8.)

"A canty quean was Kate, and a specialcummerof my ain."

(Monastery, Ch. 8.)

While christenings led to cheerful garrulity, the wilder fun of weddings has given the Fr.faire la noce, to go on the spree. In Ger.Hochzeit, wedding, lit. high time, we have a converse development of meaning.

Parallel sense development in different languages sometimes gives us a glimpse of the life of our ancestors. Our verb tocurry(leather) comes from Old Fr.corréer[73](courroyer), to make ready, put in order, which represents a theoretical*con-red-are, the root syllable of which is Germanic and cognate with ourready. Ger.gerben, to tan, Old High Ger.garawen, to make ready, is a derivative ofgar, ready, complete, now used only as an adverb meaning "quite," but cognate with ouryare—

"Our ship—Which, but three glasses since, we gave out split—Is tight, andyare, and bravely rigg'd."(Tempest, v. 1.)

"Our ship—Which, but three glasses since, we gave out split—Is tight, andyare, and bravely rigg'd."

(Tempest, v. 1.)

Bothcurryandgerbenmust have acquired their restricted meaning at a time when there was literally nothing like leather.

Even in slang we find the same parallelism exemplified. We call an old-fashioned watch aturnip. In German it is calledZwiebel, onion, and in Frenchoignon. Eng.greenhornlikens an inexperienced person to ananimal whose horns have just begun to sprout. In Ger.Gelbschnabel, yellow-bill, and Fr.bec-jaune, we have the metaphor of the fledgling. Ludwig explainsGelbschnabelby "chitty-face,"chit, cognate withkit-ten, being a general term in Mid. English for a young animal. Frombec-jaunewe have archaic Scot.beejam, university freshman. Cotgrave spells the French wordbejaune, and gives, as he usually does for such words,[74]a very full gloss, which happens, by exception, to be quotable—

"A novice; a late prentice to, or young beginner in, a trade, or art; also, a simple, ignorant, unexperienced, asse; a rude, unfashioned, home-bred hoydon; a sot, ninny, doult, noddy; one that's blankt, and hath nought to say, when he hath most need to speake."

The Englishman intimates that a thing has ceased to please by saying that he is "fed up" with it. The Frenchman says, "J'en ai soupé." Both these metaphors are quite modern, but they express in flippant form the same figure of physical satiety which is as old as language.Paddingis a comparatively new word in connection with literary composition, but it reproduces, with a slightly different meaning, the figure expressed bybombast, lit. wadding, a derivative of Greco-Lat.bombyx, originally "silk-worm," whence alsobombasine. We may compare also "fustianeloquence"—

"And he, whosefustian's so sublimely bad,It is not poetry, but prose run mad."(Pope,Prologue to the Satires, l. 187.)

"And he, whosefustian's so sublimely bad,It is not poetry, but prose run mad."

(Pope,Prologue to the Satires, l. 187.)

And a very similar image is found in the Latin poet Ausonius—

"At nos illepidum, rudem libellum,Burras, quisquilias ineptiasqueCredemus gremio cui fovendum?"(Drepanio Filio.)

"At nos illepidum, rudem libellum,Burras, quisquilias ineptiasqueCredemus gremio cui fovendum?"

(Drepanio Filio.)

Even to "take the cake" is paralleled by the Gk.λαβεῖν τὸν πυραμοῦντα, to be awarded the cake of roasted wheat and honey which was originally the prize of him who best kept awake during a night-watch.

In the proverbial expressions which contain the concentrated wisdom of the ages we sometimes find exact correspondences. Thus "to look a gift-horse in the mouth" is literally reproduced in French and German. Sometimes the symbols vary,e.g., the risk one is exposed to in acquiring goods without examination is called by us "buying a pig in a poke."[75]French and German substitute the cat. We say that "a cat may look at a king." The Frenchdramatis personæare a dog and a bishop. The "bird in hand" which we regard as the equivalent of two in the bush is in German compared advantageously with ten on the roof.

NAUTICAL METAPHOR

Every language has an immense number of metaphors to describe the various stages of intoxication. We, as a seafaring nation, have naturally a set of such metaphors taken from nautical English. In French and German the state of being "half-seas over" or "three sheets in the wind," and the practice of "splicing the main-brace" are expressed by various land metaphors. But the more obvious nautical figures are common property. We speak of beingstranded; French says "échouer(to run ashore) dans une entreprise," and German usesscheitern, to strand, split on a rock, in the same way.

Finally, we observe the same principle in euphemism, or that form of speech which avoids calling things by their names. Euphemism is the result of various human instincts which range from religious reverence down to common decency. There is, however, a special type of euphemism which may be described as the delicacy of the partially educated. It is a matter of common observation that for educated people a spade is a spade, while the more outspoken class prefers to call it a decorated shovel. Between these two classes come those delicate beings whose work in life is—

"le retranchement de ces syllabes salesQui dans les plus beaux mots produisent des scandales;Ces jouets éternels des sots de tous les temps;Ces fades lieux-communs de nos méchants plaisants;Ces sources d'un amas d'équivoques infâmes,Dont on vient faire insulte à la pudeur des femmes."(Molière,Les Femmes savantes, iii. 2.)

(Molière,Les Femmes savantes, iii. 2.)

In the United States refined society has succeeded in banning as improper the wordleg, which must now be replaced bylimb, even when the possessor is a boiled fowl, and this refinement is not unknown in England. The coloured ladies of Barbados appear to have been equally sensitive—

"Fate had placed me opposite to a fine turkey. I asked my partner if I should have the pleasure of helping her to a piece of the breast. She looked at me indignantly, and said, 'Curse your impudence, sar; I wonder where you larn manners. Sar, I take a lilly turkeybosom, if you please.'"(Peter Simple, Ch. 31.)

(Peter Simple, Ch. 31.)

This tendency shows itself especially in connection with the more intimate garments and articles intended for personal use. We have the absurd namepocket handkerchief,i.e., pocket hand-cover-head, for a comparatively modern convenience, the earlier names of which have more of the directness of the Artful Dodger's"wipe." Ben Jonson calls it amuckinder. In 1829 the use of the wordmouchoirin a French adaptation ofOthellocaused a riot at the Comédie Française. History repeats itself, for, in 1907, a play by J. M. Synge was produced in Dublin, but—

"The audience broke up in disorder at the wordshift."(Academy, 14th Oct. 1911.)

"The audience broke up in disorder at the wordshift."

(Academy, 14th Oct. 1911.)

This is all the more ludicrous when we reflect thatshift,i.e.change of raiment, is itself an early euphemism forsmock;cf.Ital.mutande, "thinne under-breeches" (Florio), from a country and century not usually regarded as prudish. The fact is that, just as the low word, when once accepted, loses its primitive vigour (seepluck, p.83), the euphemism is, by inevitable association, doomed from its very birth.

SEMANTIC ETYMOLOGY

I will now give a few examples of the way in which the study of semantics helps the etymologist. Theantlersof a deer are properly the lowest branches of the horns, what we now call brow-antlers. The word comes from Old Fr.antoilliers, which answers phonetically to a conjectured Lat.*ante-oculares, fromoculus, eye. This conjecture is confirmed by the Ger.Augensprosse, brow-antler, lit. eye-sprout.

Eng.plover, from Fr.pluvier, could come from a Vulgar Lat.*pluviarius, belonging to rain. The German nameRegenpfeifer, lit. rain-piper, shows this to be correct. It does not matter, etymologically, whether the bird really has any connection with rain, for rustic observation, interesting as it is, is essentially unscientific. Thehoneysuckle is useless to the bee. Theslow-worm, which appears to be forslay-worm, strike-serpent,[76]isperfectly harmless, and the toad, though ugly, is not venomous, nor does he bear a jewel in his head.

Kestrel, a kind of hawk, represents Old Fr.quercerelle(crécerelle), "a kastrell" (Cotgrave).Crécerelleis a diminutive ofcrécelle, a rattle, used in Old French especially of the leper's rattle or clapper, with which he warned people away from his neighbourhood. It is connected with Lat.crepare, to resound. The Latin name for the kestrel istinnunculus, lit. a little ringer, derived from the verbtinnire, to clink, jingle, "tintinnabulate." Cooper tells us that "they use to set them (kestrels) in pigeon houses, to make doves to love the place, bicause they feare away other haukes with their ringing voyce." This information is obtained from the Latin agriculturist Columella. This parallel makes it clear that Fr.crécerelle, kestrel, is a metaphorical application of the same word, meaning a leper's "clicket."

The curious wordakimbooccurs first in Mid. English in the formin kenebowe. In half a dozen languages we find this attitude expressed by the figure of a jug-handle, or, as it used to be called, a pot-ear. The oldest equivalent is Lat.ansatus, used by Plautus, fromansa, a jug-handle.Ansatus homois explained by Cooper as "a man with his armson kenbow." Archaic French for to stand with arms akimbo is "faire le pot a deuxanses," and the same striking image occurs in German, Dutch, and Spanish. Hence it seems a plausible conjecture thatkenebowemeans "jug-handle." This is confirmed by the fact that Dryden translatesansa, "the eare or handle of a cuppe or pot" (Cooper), by "kimbohandle" (Vergil,Ecl.iii. 44). Eng.bow, meaning anything bent, is used in many connections for handle. The first element may becan, applied to every description of vessel in earlier English, as it still is in Scottish, or it may be some Scandinavian word. In fact thewhole compound may be Scandinavian. Thomas'Latin Dictionary(1644) explainsansatus homoas "one that in bragging manner strowteth up and down with his armesa-canne-bow."

DEMURE—LUGGER

Demurehas been explained as from Mid. Eng.mure, ripe, mature, with prefixedde. Butdemureis the older word of the two, and while the loss of the atonic first syllable is normal in English (p.61), it would be hard to find a case in which a meaningless prefix has been added. Nor does the meaning ofdemureapproximate very closely to that of ripe. It now has a suggestion of slyness, but in Milton's time meant sedate—

"Come, pensive nun, devout and pure,Sober, stedfast, anddemure."(Penseroso, l. 31.)

"Come, pensive nun, devout and pure,Sober, stedfast, anddemure."

(Penseroso, l. 31.)

and its oldest meaning is calm, settled, used of the sea. When we consider that it is nearly equivalent tostaid, earlierstayed, and compare the equivalent terms in other languages,e.g., Lat.sedatus, Fr.rassis, Ger.gesetzt, etc., it seems likely that it is formed from the Old Normandemurer(demeurer), to "stay," just asstaleis formed from Old Fr.estaler(étaler), to display on astall, ortrove, in "treasuretrove," from Old Fr.trover(trouver).

The origin ofluggeris unknown, but the word is recorded a century later thanlugsail, whence it is probably derived. The explanation oflugsailas asailthat isluggedseems to be a piece of folk-etymology. The French forlugsailisvoile de fortune, and a still earlier name, which occurs also in Tudor English, isbonaventure,i.e., good luck. Hence it is not unreasonable to conjecture thatlugsailstands for*luck-sail, just as the nameHigsonstands forHickson(see p.172).

Thepipson cards or dice have nothing to do with apple pips. The oldest spelling ispeeps. In the Germanic languages they are called "eyes," and in the Romance languages "points"; and the Romance derivatives of Lat.punctus, point, also mean "peepof day." Hence thepeepsare connected with the verb topeep.

The game calleddominoesis French, and the name is taken from the phrasefaire domino, to win the game.Domino, a hooded cloak worn by priests in winter, is an Italian word, apparently connected with Lat.dominus. French also has, in various games, the phrasefaire capot, with a meaning like that offaire domino.Capot, related to Eng.capand Fr.chapeau, means properly a hooded cloak. The two metaphors are quite parallel, but it is impossible to say what was the original idea. Perhaps it was that of extinguishing the opponent by putting, as it were, his head in a bag.

The card game calledgleekis often mentioned in Tudor literature. It is derived from Old Fr.glic, used by Rabelais, and the word is very common in the works of the more disreputable French poets of the 15th century. According to French archaeologists the game was also calledbonheur,chance,fortune, andhasard. Henceglicrepresents in all probability Ger.Glück, luck.[77]The Old French formghelicquewould correspond to Mid. High Ger.gelücke. The history oftennis(p.10) andtrump(p.9) shows that it is not necessary to find the German word recorded in the same sense.

SENTRY

The wordsentry, which occurs in English only, has no connection at all withsentinel, the earliest form of which is Ital.sentinella, of unknown origin. The older lexicographers obscured the etymology ofsentry, which is really quite simple, by always attempting to treat italong withsentinel. It is a common phenomenon in military language that the abstract name of an action is applied to the building or station in which the action is performed, then to the group of men thus employed, and finally to the individual soldier. Thus Lat.custodiameans (1) guardianship, (2) a ward-room, watch-tower, (3) the watch collectively, (4) a watchman. Fr.vigie, the look-out man on board ship, can be traced back in a similar series of meanings to Lat.vigilia, watching.[78]Asentry, now a single soldier, was formerly a band of soldiers—

"What strength, what art can thenSuffice, or what evasion bear him safeThrough the strictsenteriesand stations thickOf angels watching round?"(Paradise Lost, ii. 410.)

"What strength, what art can thenSuffice, or what evasion bear him safeThrough the strictsenteriesand stations thickOf angels watching round?"

(Paradise Lost, ii. 410.)

and earlier still a watch-tower,e.g., Cotgrave explains Old Fr.eschauguette(échauguette) as "asentrie, watch-tower, beacon." The purely abstract sense survives in the phrase "to keepsentry"i.e.guard—

"Here toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep,Forms terrible to view theircentry[79]keep."(Dryden,Æneid, vi. 277.)

"Here toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep,Forms terrible to view theircentry[79]keep."

(Dryden,Æneid, vi. 277.)

It is a contracted form ofsanctuary. In the 17th century it is a pretty familiar word in this sense.[79]The earliest example I have come across is in Nashe—

"He hath no way now to slyppe out of my hands, but to takesentriein the Hospital of Warwick."(First Part ofPasquil'sApologie, 1590.)

"He hath no way now to slyppe out of my hands, but to takesentriein the Hospital of Warwick."

(First Part ofPasquil'sApologie, 1590.)

Fr.guérite, a sentry box, can be traced back in thesame way to Old Fr.garir(guérir), to save. Cotgrave explains it as "a place of refuge, and of safe retyrall," also "asentrie, or little lodge for a sentinell, built on high." It is to this latter sense that we owe Eng.garret. In medieval Frenchguéritemeans refuge, sanctuary—

"Ceste roche est Ihesucrist meismes qui est li refuges et lagariteaus humbles."[80]

If French had not borrowedsentinellefrom Italian,guéritewould probably now mean "sentry";cf.the history ofvigie(p.103), or ofvedette, a cavalry sentry, but originally "a prying or peeping hole" (Florio), from Ital.vedere, to see.

FOOTNOTES:[63]Parchment (see p.49) was invented as a substitute when the supply of papyrus failed.[64]The "stick" meaning survives in theyardsof a ship.Yardwas once the general word for rod, wand. Thus the "cheatingyardwand" of Tennyson's "smooth-faced snubnosed rogue" (Maud, I. i. 16) is a pleonasm of the same type asgreyhound(p.135).Yard, an enclosure, is a separate word, related togarden. The doubletgarth, used in the Eastern counties, is of Scandinavian origin—"I climb'd to the top of thegarth, and stood by the road at the gate."(Tennyson,The Grandmother, l. 38.)[65]As Old Fr.uissierhas givenusher, I would suggest that the family namesLushandLusher, which Bardsley (Dict. of English Surnames) gives up, are for Old Fr.l'uis(cf.Laporte) andl'uissier. In modern FrenchLhuissieris not an uncommon name.[66]Theonion, Fr.oignon, Lat.unio,union-, is so named because successive skins form an harmonious one-ness. It is a doublet ofunion.[67]Perhaps a diminutive of Cymricbele, marten, but felt as from Fr.belle.[68]Dozens of similar names for the weasel could be collected from the European languages and dialects. It is probable that these complimentary names were propitiatory, the weasel being an animal regarded with superstitious dread.[69]Cf.PresterJohn, the fabulous priest monarch of Ethiopia.[70]Cf.lordly,princely, etc., and Ger.herrisch, imperious, fromHerr, sir.[71]Modern Fr.écrouis used only in the sense of prison register.[72]The vowel is not so great a difficulty as it might appear, and we actually have the same change incomradeitself, formerly pronouncedcumrade. In the London pronunciation theuof such words asbut,cup,hurry, etc., represents roughly a continental shorta. This fact, familiar to phoneticians but disbelieved by others, is one of the first peculiarities noted by foreigners beginning to learn English. It is quite possible thatchumis an accidental spelling for*cham, just as we writebungalowforbangla(Bengal),punditforpandit, andPunjaubforPanjab, five rivers, whence also probably the liquid calledpunch, from its five ingredients.Cf.also American toslug,i.e.toslog, which appears to represent Du.slag, blow—"That was forsluggingthe guard" (Kipling,An Error in the Fourth Dimension)—and the adjectivebluff, from obsolete Du.blaf, broad-faced.[73]Array, Old Fr.arréer, is related.[74]This is a characteristic of the old dictionary makers. The gem of my collection is Ludwig's gloss forLümmel, "a long lubber, a lazy lubber, a slouch, a lordant, a lordane, a looby, a booby, a tony, a fop, a dunce, a simpleton, a wise-acre, a sot, a logger-head, a block-head, a nickampoop, a lingerer, a drowsy or dreaming lusk, a pill-garlick, a slowback, a lathback, a pitiful sneaking fellow, a lungis, a tall slim fellow, a slim longback, a great he-fellow, a lubberly fellow, a lozel, an awkward fellow."[75]Poke, sack, is still common in dialect,e.g.in the Kentish hop-gardens. It is a doublet ofpouch, and its diminutive ispocket.[76]The meaning ofwormhas degenerated since the days of theLindwurm, the dragon slain by Siegfried. The Norse form survives inGreat Orme's Head, the dragon's head.[77]Some derive it from Ger.gleich, like, used of a "flush."[78]This is why so many French military terms are feminine, e.g.,recrue,sentinelle,vedette, etc.[79]Skinner'sEtymologicon(1671) has the two entries,centryprosanctuaryandcentryv.sentinel. The spellingscentryandcentinel, which were common when the words still had a collective sense, are perhaps due to some fancied connection withcentury, a hundred soldiers.[80]"This rock is Jesus Christ himself, who is the refuge and sanctuary of the humble."

[63]Parchment (see p.49) was invented as a substitute when the supply of papyrus failed.

[64]The "stick" meaning survives in theyardsof a ship.Yardwas once the general word for rod, wand. Thus the "cheatingyardwand" of Tennyson's "smooth-faced snubnosed rogue" (Maud, I. i. 16) is a pleonasm of the same type asgreyhound(p.135).Yard, an enclosure, is a separate word, related togarden. The doubletgarth, used in the Eastern counties, is of Scandinavian origin—"I climb'd to the top of thegarth, and stood by the road at the gate."(Tennyson,The Grandmother, l. 38.)

"I climb'd to the top of thegarth, and stood by the road at the gate."(Tennyson,The Grandmother, l. 38.)

"I climb'd to the top of thegarth, and stood by the road at the gate."

(Tennyson,The Grandmother, l. 38.)

[65]As Old Fr.uissierhas givenusher, I would suggest that the family namesLushandLusher, which Bardsley (Dict. of English Surnames) gives up, are for Old Fr.l'uis(cf.Laporte) andl'uissier. In modern FrenchLhuissieris not an uncommon name.

[66]Theonion, Fr.oignon, Lat.unio,union-, is so named because successive skins form an harmonious one-ness. It is a doublet ofunion.

[67]Perhaps a diminutive of Cymricbele, marten, but felt as from Fr.belle.

[68]Dozens of similar names for the weasel could be collected from the European languages and dialects. It is probable that these complimentary names were propitiatory, the weasel being an animal regarded with superstitious dread.

[69]Cf.PresterJohn, the fabulous priest monarch of Ethiopia.

[70]Cf.lordly,princely, etc., and Ger.herrisch, imperious, fromHerr, sir.

[71]Modern Fr.écrouis used only in the sense of prison register.

[72]The vowel is not so great a difficulty as it might appear, and we actually have the same change incomradeitself, formerly pronouncedcumrade. In the London pronunciation theuof such words asbut,cup,hurry, etc., represents roughly a continental shorta. This fact, familiar to phoneticians but disbelieved by others, is one of the first peculiarities noted by foreigners beginning to learn English. It is quite possible thatchumis an accidental spelling for*cham, just as we writebungalowforbangla(Bengal),punditforpandit, andPunjaubforPanjab, five rivers, whence also probably the liquid calledpunch, from its five ingredients.Cf.also American toslug,i.e.toslog, which appears to represent Du.slag, blow—"That was forsluggingthe guard" (Kipling,An Error in the Fourth Dimension)—and the adjectivebluff, from obsolete Du.blaf, broad-faced.

[73]Array, Old Fr.arréer, is related.

[74]This is a characteristic of the old dictionary makers. The gem of my collection is Ludwig's gloss forLümmel, "a long lubber, a lazy lubber, a slouch, a lordant, a lordane, a looby, a booby, a tony, a fop, a dunce, a simpleton, a wise-acre, a sot, a logger-head, a block-head, a nickampoop, a lingerer, a drowsy or dreaming lusk, a pill-garlick, a slowback, a lathback, a pitiful sneaking fellow, a lungis, a tall slim fellow, a slim longback, a great he-fellow, a lubberly fellow, a lozel, an awkward fellow."

[75]Poke, sack, is still common in dialect,e.g.in the Kentish hop-gardens. It is a doublet ofpouch, and its diminutive ispocket.

[76]The meaning ofwormhas degenerated since the days of theLindwurm, the dragon slain by Siegfried. The Norse form survives inGreat Orme's Head, the dragon's head.

[77]Some derive it from Ger.gleich, like, used of a "flush."

[78]This is why so many French military terms are feminine, e.g.,recrue,sentinelle,vedette, etc.

[79]Skinner'sEtymologicon(1671) has the two entries,centryprosanctuaryandcentryv.sentinel. The spellingscentryandcentinel, which were common when the words still had a collective sense, are perhaps due to some fancied connection withcentury, a hundred soldiers.

[80]"This rock is Jesus Christ himself, who is the refuge and sanctuary of the humble."

Everyexpression that we employ, apart from those that are connected with the most rudimentary objects and actions, is a metaphor, though the original meaning is dulled by constant use. Thus, in the above sentence,expressionmeans what is "squeezed out," toemployis to "twine in" like a basket maker, toconnectis to "weave together,"rudimentarymeans "in the rough state," and anobjectis something "thrown in our way." A classification of the metaphors in use in the European languages would show that a large number of the mostobviouskind,i.e.of those which "come to meet" one, are common property, while others would reflect the most striking habits and pursuits of the various races. It would probably be found that in the common stock of simple metaphor the most important contribution would come from agriculture, while in English the nautical element would occur to an extent quite unparalleled in other European languages.[81]A curious agriculturalmetaphor which, though of Old French origin, now appears to be peculiar to English, is torehearse, lit. to harrow over again (seehearse, p.75).

Some metaphors are easy to track. It does not require much philological knowledge to see thatastonish,astound, andstunall contain the idea of "thunder-striking," Vulgar Lat.*ex-tonare. Toembarrassis obviously connected withbar, and tointerfereis to "strike between," Old Fr.entreferir. This word was especially used in the 16th century of a horse knocking its legs together in trotting, "tointerfeere, as a horse" (Cotgrave). When we speak of aprentice-hand, soundjourneymanwork, and amasterpiece, we revive the medieval classification of artisans into learners, qualified workmen, and those who, by the presentation to their guild of a finished piece of work, were recognised as past (passed) masters.

But many of our metaphors are drawn from pursuits with which we are no longer familiar, or from arts and sciences no longer practised.Disaster,ill-starred, and such adjectives asjovial,mercurial, are reminiscent of astrology. To bring a thing to thetestis to put it in the alchemist's or metallurgist'stestor trying-pot (cf.test-tube), Old Fr.test(têt). This is related to Old Fr.teste(tête) head, from Lat.testa, tile, pot, etc., used in Roman slang forcaput. Shakespeare has the complete metaphor—

"Let there be some moretestmade of my metal,[82]Before so noble and so great a figureBe stamp'd upon it."(Measure for Measure, i. 1.)

"Let there be some moretestmade of my metal,[82]Before so noble and so great a figureBe stamp'd upon it."

(Measure for Measure, i. 1.)

SHAMBLES—SPICK AND SPAN

The old butchers' shops which adjoin Nottingham Market Place are still called theShambles. The wordis similarly used at Carlisle, and probably elsewhere; but to most people it is familiar only in the metaphorical sense of place of slaughter, generally regarded as a singular. Thus Denys of Burgundy says—

"The beasts are in theshambles."(Cloister and Hearth, Ch. 33.)

"The beasts are in theshambles."

(Cloister and Hearth, Ch. 33.)

etymologically misusing the word, which does not mean slaughter-house, but the bench on which meat is exposed for sale. It is a very early loan from Lat.scamnum, a bench or form, also explained by Cooper as "a step or grice (see p.118) to get up to bedde." The same diminutive form occurs in Fr.escabeau, an office stool, and Ger.Schemel, a stool.

Fusty, earlierfoisty, is no longer used in its proper sense. It comes from Old Fr.fusté, "fusty; tasting of the caske, smelling of the vessell wherein it hath been kept" (Cotgrave), a derivative of Old Fr.fust(fût) a cask.[83]

The smith's art has given usbrand-new, often corrupted intobran-new. Shakespeare usesfire-new—

"You should then have accosted her; and with some excellent jests,fire-newfrom the mint, you should have banged the youth into dumbness."(Twelfth Night, iii. 2.)

"You should then have accosted her; and with some excellent jests,fire-newfrom the mint, you should have banged the youth into dumbness."

(Twelfth Night, iii. 2.)

Modern German hasfunkelnagelneu, spark nail new; but in older German we find alsospanneu,splinterneu, chip new, splinter new; which shows the origin of ourspick and span(new),i.e., spike and chip new. French hastout battant neuf, beating new,i.e., fresh from the anvil.

Many old hunting terms survive as metaphors. Tobeat bay, Fr.aux abois, is to be facing the baying hounds. The fundamental meaning of Old Fr.abaier(aboyer), of obscure origin, is perhaps to gape at.[84]Thus a right or estate which is inabeyanceis one regarded with open-mouthed expectancy. Thetoilsare Fr.toiles, lit. cloths, Lat.tela, the nets put round a thicket to prevent the game from escaping. To "beat about the bush" seems to be a mixture of two metaphors which are quite unlike in meaning. To "beat the bush" was the office of the beaters, who started the game for others, hence an old proverb, "I will not beat the bush that another may have the birds." To "go about the bush" would seem to have been used originally of a hesitating hound. The two expressions have coalesced to express the idea for which French says "y aller par quatre chemins."Crestfallenandwhite featherbelong to the old sport of cock-fighting.Jeopardyis Old Fr.jeu parti, a divided game, hence an equal encounter. To run fulltiltis a jousting phrase. Topounceupon is to seize in thepounces, the old word for a hawk's claws. The ultimate source is Lat.pungere, to prick, pierce. A goldsmith'spunchwas also called apounce, hence the verb topounce, to make patterns on metal. The northern past participlepouncet[85]occurs inpouncet-box, a metal perforated globe for scents—

"And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he heldApouncet-box, which ever and anonHe gave his nose, and took't away again."(1Henry IV., i. 3.)

"And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he heldApouncet-box, which ever and anonHe gave his nose, and took't away again."

(1Henry IV., i. 3.)

To the language of hawking belongs alsohaggard. Cotgrave definesfaulcon (faucon) hagard, as "a faulconthat preyed for her selfe long before she was taken." Hence the sense of wild, untameable. The original meaning is hedge-hawk, the first syllable representing Old High Ger.hag, hedge.Hag, a witch, is of cognate origin.

SPORTING METAPHORS

The antiquity of dicing appears in the history of Ger.gefallen, to please, originally used of the "fall" of the dice. In Mid. High German it is always used withwohl, well, orübel, ill; e.g.,es gefällt mir wohl, it "falls out" well for me. There can be no reasonable doubt that thedeuce!is a dicer's exclamation at making the lowest throw, two, Fr.deux. We still usedeucefor the two in cards, and German hasDausin both senses. Tennis has given usbandy, Fr.bander, "tobandie, at tennis" (Cotgrave). We now only bandy words or reproaches, but Juliet understood the word in its literal sense—

"Had she affections and warm youthful blood,She'd be as swift in motion as a ball;My words wouldbandyher to my sweet love,And his to me."(Romeo and Juliet, ii. 5.)

"Had she affections and warm youthful blood,She'd be as swift in motion as a ball;My words wouldbandyher to my sweet love,And his to me."

(Romeo and Juliet, ii. 5.)

Fowling has given uscajole,decoy, andtrepan. Fr.cajoler, which formerly meant to chatter like a jay in a cage, has in modern French assumed the meaning ofenjôler, earlierengeoler, "to incage, or ingaole" (Cotgrave), hence to entice. Fr.geôle, gaol, represents Vulgar Lat.*caveola.Decoy, earlier alsocoy, is Du.kooi, cage. The later form is perhaps due toduck-coy. Du.kooiis also of Latin origin. It comes, like Fr.cage, from Vulgar Lat.*cavea, and has a doubletkevie, whence Scot.cavie, a hen-coop.Trepanwas formerlytrapan, and belongs totrap—

"Some by the nose with fumestrapan'em,As Dunstan did the devil's grannam."(Hudibras, ii. 3.)

"Some by the nose with fumestrapan'em,As Dunstan did the devil's grannam."

(Hudibras, ii. 3.)

It is now equivalent tokidnap,i.e.tonab kids(children), once a lucrative pursuit. The surgicaltrepanis a different word altogether, and belongs to Greco-Lat.trypanon, an auger, piercer. Toallureis to bring to thelure, or bait. To the same group of metaphors belongsinveigle, which corresponds, with altered prefix, to Fr.aveugler, to blind, Vulgar Lat.*ab-oculare.[86]A distant relative of this word isogle, which is of Low German origin;cf.Ger.liebäugeln"toogle, to smicker, to look amorously, to cast sheeps-eyes, to cast amorous looks" (Ludwig).

The archaic verb tocozenis a metaphor of quite another kind. Every young noble who did the grand tour in the 16th and 17th centuries spent some time at Naples, "where he may improve his knowledge in horsemanship" (Howell,Instructions for Forreine Travell, 1642). Now the Italian horse-dealers were so notorious that Dekker, writing about 1600, describes a swindling "horse-courser" as a "meere jadish Non-politane," a play on Neapolitan. The Italian name iscozzone, "a horse-courser, a horse-breaker, a craftie knave" (Florio), whence the verbcozzonare, "to have perfect skill in allcosenages" (Torriano). The essential idea of tocozenin the Elizabethans is that of selling faulty goods in a bad light, a device said to be practised by some horse-dealers. At any rate the words for horse-dealer in all languages, from the Lat.mangoto the Amer.horse-swapper, mean swindler and worse things.Cozenis a favourite word with the Elizabethan dramatists, because it enables them to bring off one of those stock puns that make one feel "The less Shakespeare he"—

"Cousins, indeed; and by their unclecozen'dOf comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life."(Richard III., iv. 4.)

"Cousins, indeed; and by their unclecozen'dOf comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life."

(Richard III., iv. 4.)

In theMerry Wives of Windsor(iv. 5) there is a lot of word-play on "cousins-german" and "German cozeners." An exact parallel to the history ofcozenis furnished by the verb tojockey, fromjockey, in its older sense of horse-dealer.

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