FIGURES OF SPEECH.

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 July 1915, Page 3

FIGURES OF SPEECH.

CURIOUS ORIGIN OP SOME FAMILIAR SAYINGS.

To assist in making expression unmistakable, mankind has kept in store proverbs, phrases, and certain specific words that, rightly chosen, give emphasis and perspicuity to our thoughts. These phrases by being welded into the fabric of speech have become almost a par,t of language itself, and unconsciously ami repeatedly we dip into the store, selecting the most suitable saying without the slightest hesitation. The origin of many is shrouded in antiquity, whilst others of mure recent date have had their beginnings in quite trivial incidents- It has often been the wit of the time that has formulated the adage which lias summed up the situation exactly. Other sayings have come down to ns from old customs, long since dead, from the superstition of the mediaeval times, and even from ignorance of common facts. In some cases phrases which were quite legitimate in themselves have been retained, while the circa instances themselves have altered. “STRIKING” A MATCH.

For instance, wo are continually speaking of “striking a match.” But do we “strike” it? “Do we rub?” A moment’s reflection will decide that the latter term would be more accurate. How, then, has the word “strike” come to be used in this connection? Its evident misuse has been handed down to ns from tire generations existing previous to the invention of matches as we know them; when it was the practice of striking the steel with tire flint to produce the spark necessary to ignite the tinder and sulphur-tipped splint of wood. Superstition is responsible for the phrase “licked into shape.” It was erroneously believed that bear cubs were born without being properly formed, but the dam’s maternal instinct produced the shapely cub by a profuse application of the tongue. A decisive defeat is popularly known as a “licking,” a word which has probably had connection with this phrase. “A Fool’s Paradise” had its inception in the old superstitious doctrine that outside paradise wag “lumbus fanorum,” or paradise was “limbus fatiomm,” or made use of their abilities in life spent eternity. They were neither in heaven nor hell * but nearer the former. Hence the expression fur vain hope or unlawful pleasure. Nature gives us, through the custom of some birds of the duck tribe of lining their nests with feathers plucked from their own breasts, when deficient in nest-building material, the familiar phrase, “To feather his nest.” This conveys the idea, so expressively, of the determination, whether worthy of cultivation or not, of gaining personal comfoitt under adverse circumstances. “Killed by kindness” has its origin in the sometimes fatal action of the mother ape in hugging , her offspring too tightly in her loving embrace. “IN THE SWIM.” ■

“Not enough roqm to swing a cat” carries us back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when that domestic pet had but little favour bestowed upon it- Pussy was often the butt of sport and, as such, was suspended in a sack from the branch of a tree.. The sportsmen, so called, endeavoured to liberate the poor animal by shooting or striking at the string that suspended the sack. The creature being liberated,. the sport degenerated into a cat hunt. Sport, too, is responsible for that common phrase, “In the swim.” Anglers in olden times designated that part of the river where lish were wont to congregate as “the swim,” and consequently to be fishing in that spot—the most • advantageous position in th© stream—was to place oneself in fortune’s way. The oft-quoted apothegm, “Eating humble pie,” though allied to the sport of the time, is an instance of corrupted etymology, from which so many of our words and phrases suffer. It refers to the time when deer hunting was a common sport. At the conclu. sum of the hunt a banquet was served to all who had taken part, from the highest noble to the humblest servant. The coarser portions of the deer and the entrails were called “numbles” or “uinbles,” and while the lord feasted upon the choicest portions of venison, these were left for the attendants. When baked in a pie, they formed their chief dish, and hence partaking of “umble” pie at the hunting feast signified tho degraded position of the servant. “HAD AS A HATTER.” Why iladness should be likened to that of a hatter, if the latter is mad, might puzzle one considerably. Here again is a corrupted etymology. The word “hatter” should be spelled simpiy “after,” which is. the Anglo-Saxon word for added. With this explanation the force of the phrase ‘‘as mad as a hatter” becomes more evident, indicating a virulence of temper. A similar case of perversion is shown by “Nine tailors make a man.” In bygone times it was the custom to toll the funeral bell at the death of a man three times in succession thrice—making nine. Each stroke of the bell was termed a teller, and so arose the phrase “Nine tellers make a man,” which has been changed through course of time into the now familiar adage. A love of brevity has given us “Mind your p’s and q’s,” which is of French origin. In the time of Louis XIV. Court etiquette demanded a very low bow. and the dancing master-, when instructing Ids pupils, would desire a strict attention to the position of the feet and head. “Pied” is the French word for foot, and fashion demanding a queue wig, the inhmetion “Mind your pieds and queues” became common. On translation into English it became abbreviated into the now familiar phrase. —John T. Sargent in ‘Great Thoughts.’