PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3430, 9 December 1919, Page 70

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

AN OLLA PODRIDA. A curious term for bovs—and girls—isn’t it? And what about grown-ups? How many of us keep a dictionary at our elbows ? The other day I was at a friend’s having tea, and the question of cookery came up. One lady said she had been reading a cookery book, and came across the word “ saleratus ” in connexion—is “connexion” right, or “connection”? — with a recipe. I asked her what it meant, and she said she did not know, but thought it might- have something to do with celery or with a fruit! We turned up the dictionary, and found it was used very largely in making baking powder! I am away from home just now, and a dictionarv by me says: “ A bi-carbonate of potash, not always pure, containing a greater quantity of carbonic acid than pearl ash. It is much used in cookery.” By the bye,, that reminds me that compositors or readers—l refer to readers of proofs in a printing establishment, —men of wide knowledge in newspaper and literary writing,, sometimes make mistakes. Some time ago I wrote a note or two for a paper —where and under what conditions it is unnecessary to relate, though, I might add, it wasn’t for the Witness, —in which reference was made to a favourite breakfast of a clergyman’s—plovers’ eggs flavoured with celery salt. I asked several ■ ‘-ladies what celery salt was, but for some time could not find out. At last I got a sample from a lady, and found it was salt flavoured with celery, pepper and salt-like in appearance. Tire note appeared, “ Plovers’ eggs flavoured'with celery and salt! I think it was at the same time I referred to a duel between two Frenchmen fighting with rapiers, as Frenchmen generally do. It was a duel in which honour—or supposedly so—was concerned, and the object in view was to wound the opponent, and so satisfy honour. A rapier is different from a sword, which, is used - for hacking or cutting rather than to show brilliance or dexteritv of handling ; out with a rapier the object is to give a neat despatch in •case of a deadly wound or in case of satisfying honour, simply a neat wound, drawing verv little blood. This is called “pinking ” an opponent; but, instead of pinking, I was made to sav he picked, his opponent—rather a bludgeon way of treating an opponent instead of a neat, natty, dexterous one. And this reminds .me, through association of ideas and reverting to the mention!) of dictionaries, of an incident that occurred some time ago in connexion with myself. Some years ago—how many I do not care to mention—l taught in the evening classes connected with the Technical School which has since graduated into the King Edward Technical College, or, briefly, “ The King’s.” I was taking the senior English class, which included in its studies a Shakespeare's play or some other English selection. I found out very soon that very few had a good dictionary, and recommended certain ones for use. Every now and then after discussing some word or phrase, and, not being satisfied with the response, I would say, “ liet your dictionarv and turn the word up.” At last the students knew what to expect, and when I said, “ Turn it up,” got to work with alacrity. By the bye, how manv of my younger readers—older, too, for that matter—can find a word quicklv ? First, you will find that not only are words arranged according to the first words of the alphabet, but the second, third, and sometimes subsequent letters are also arranged on 'the same principle. Further—especially in class work and for speed work—each page is divided into four (for two columns) or six (for three columns) parts, so that when a sharp boy or girl finds the word first, he or she calls out page 93, a, b, c, d, e. f, and so localises the word for the slower pupils. Care must be taken, however, not to allow the lazy to wait until the sharper find the word. There are “ passengers ” in school as in the football field who will trade upon the more alert, and the lazv must not be allowed to sponge upon the more willing. Here teachers can teach a lesson. The lazy, or sometimes not lazy, but slow children, can be shown that laziness must be penalised, and the more energetic rewarded; and the slower must be shown the same, but they must not be penalised, for their reward will come through sureness. Further, the steady Avorker in after life scores over the brilliant by fixitv of purpose. But to return. That English class learnt a lesson in English and in the use of the dictionary, for turning up one word often sometimes meant turning up a score of words to find out meanings of words in the meanings. One lad so worried his father that he got the son a Webster’s International! And the father told me an incident to the son’s credit. One evening the father went onfc and left the son poring over the dictionary, and he was poring OA T er it when the father came back a couple of hours after! I haven’t finished Avith that English class yet! Some years after I was accosted in Princes street by a man Avho abruptly asked me, “ What does mean?”

naming a word I had not known. I looked at him with astonishment, and said I did not know. Then he tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Turn it up.” I soon recognised an old student, and he said that the lesson I had drilled into the class of turning it uo had been of inestimable benefit to him, and he thought, to others also. I want all my readers—again I refer to juniors, though seniors may with; advantage “turn it up,” too—to consult a good dictionary, though I do not suggest that you should buy a dictionary just now, but to wait" until Macmillan’s, Ogilvie’s, Chambers’s, Nelson’s, or some of the other dictionaries I have mentioned bring out a new edition containing new words introduced during the past five years; and I suppose that in no previous * quinquennial period has the language been enriched with so many words. Will you believe it. My heading is the only part of what I sat down to write! “ 011 a podrida ” in the dictionary at my elbow is given as meaning “ a favourite Spanish dish, consisting of a mixture of all kinds of meat chopped fine and stewed with vegetables,” and the secondary meaning, used in a colloquial [look it up] sense, is “an incongruous [look it up] mixture or miscellaneous [look it up] collection — an olio.” Here, again, I say “turn it up.” What does “olio” mean? The dictionary says, “ Sp. OLLA, Pg. olha, a round earthen, pot, a dish of boiled or stewed meat.’* And after giving the meaning I commenced this paragraph with, adds: 1 “ Literally a rotten pot, from Lat. Olla, a pot, dish,” and ends with a quotation : “ Besides a good olio, the dishes were trifling, ashed,' and condited [look it up!] after their way, not at all fit for an Elnglish stomach.—Evelyn. [Who was • he? Look the reference up.] Well, what I have written is all linked up with one idea, so, after all, is not an incongruous mixture. Nor was what I intended to write about an incongruous mixture,, for it was a collection of paragraphs arising out of. this week’s cables— The Treaty of Peace, Rumania, Translyvania, Italy, Germany, Bolshevists, The Empire Defence, Co-ordination ■of Dominions and Britain, A Common Empire Policy, Rights of Small Peoples,- Strained Relations, United States and Mexico. Capital. Quite an array, isn’t it? But I’ll let my Chat stand as it is.