THE JEWELLER’S WINDOW

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29744, 10 February 1962, Page 8

THE JEWELLER’S WINDOW

[Specialty written for “The Press" by

ARNOLD WALL]

Professor Arnold Wall, in the present series of articles, discusses the origin of many familiar names, expressions, and phrases. He wishes to make it clear that he cannot undertake to reply personally to readers who may comment on any of them. This article is the twenty-third of the series.

“Long,” “length.” “linger," "belong.” "Lent.” “ling” (the fish. not the heather), “longue” (French), "longus" (Latin), names of places and. people: “Longhurst," “Lang,” “Lain g," “Longchamps," “Lombardy”—there's a family. “Length” needs no comment, but “longer" and I 'longeat" have displaced the older “lenger” and “lengst" , which nobody misses. “Lent" was "lencten,” earlier “lengten,” the time of year when the days grow longer or "lenger.” The “ling” is a long, slender fish. We did not barrow our "long” from the Latin "longus”; as luck would have it both “1” and “ng” are sounds which do not easily change, so this original Aryan word appears in approximately the same form in different languages which have descended from a common ancestor. Thus “long” in "longshore” is English while the “long" of “longitude” and “longicom” is Latin. The Germanic “Lombards” were probably so-called from their long beards (German "bart.” Norse “barth," etc.), hence Lombardy where they settled. But the pidgin “long” and “belong” deserve a compartment to themselves. Long, Belong The Catholic Mission printed In "pidgin" a Liklik Katolik Baibel” at Alexishafen, New Guinea, in 1934, from which the idioms of “belong” and “long” may be illustrated. If you could take "belong” and “long” away from this language there would not be much left. Both are used as prepositions with very similar meanings and either of them can be used for any preposition at all. On the title-page alone there are five “belongs" and three “longs”: "name belong book” (of); “book belong God” (concerning); “twofeller half belong Bible” (in); “talk belong Jesus" (about); “Jesus comedown long ground” (to the world); “long New Testament" (ini.

Assorted examples are given in ordinary spelling, but the Liklik Baibel is

printed in phonetic. The language, though it has official status, is based on very colloquial “low-class" English or even slang. "Long right-hand belong God,” on the right hand of God; “place belong sitdown,” place for sitting down; “boss belong all angels,” leader of all; “talk belong snake,” talking by th* serpent (in Eden); “all fish swim long waler.” in the water; “to put them all long heaven,” into heaven; “threw him long bigfire.” into hell; “God he cross long snake,” angry with the serpent. “Long” in these meanings seems to have sprung from the vulgar “along of’—“it is

all along of you I went wrong," formerly an unobjectenable usage. Well, there you have a good tong talk tong “long" and idioms belong “long.”

Many Inventions All words may be said to have been invented at one time or another by individuals—that is, all words now current m any language But in English we have had inventors whose products have failed to "make good" and are given in our dictionaries because the authors were well-known or even famous persons. Among these we find a group of “thwords." as Fowler calls them, and here is an inventory of these inventions. Paraded they are “coo Ith,” “blow th" or "blooth," "gloomth." “illth* "spilth,” “blueth," “greenth” and “slowth” now spelt "sloth." “Spilth" is not accredited to any writer, nor are “breadth,” "depth" or “coolth" though these are forms developed after the time of the Anglo-Saxon.

The most prolific inventor was Horace Walpole, the famous eighteenth century dilettante, author of what is considered to be the first English historical novel. "The Castle of Otranto," 1764. His coinages are "gloomth.” "greenth.” and “blueth" (blue colour), 1753. Illth. intended as opposable to “wealth," is due to Ruskin, 1860. Other unlucky inventions not attributed to any individual are “coolth," 1547: "blowth" or “blooth” (blossom), 1602; "spilth" ,(now more or less successfully revived) for that which is spilt, 1607. Now for some successes “Sloth,” formerly "slowth," replaced the older “sleowthe ” “slewth," and “sleuth” for idleness and held on till 1629. The Sherlock Holmes "sleuth” is no relation. "Breadth” appeared in 1528, “depth” in the Middle Ages. Neither of these was in use in older times; an abstract noun was formed by vowel change—breadth was “brede" and depth was “deep"; subsequent sound changes obliterated the distinction.

Lastly we have the curious case of "sleight.” originally the abstract noun from "sly,” an Old Norse word, "slyness" only in “sleight-of-hand.” But we now have also its modern Swedish form “sloyd" or “sloid” used in physical education since 1885 for special kinds of “skill.” “Width” did not appear till 1627 when it replaced the Older “wideness " So far as I know, nobody has ever tried to put into circulation any of these “possibles: “thinth,” “thickth,” “lowth," “softh,” “hardth,” “quicktlh,” “newtli." “oldth,” or “fasth,” so there are still opportunities for the bold spirits.