The Romance of Words (4th ed.)

Thus, in the above sentence, expression means what is "squeezed out," to employ is to "twine in" like a basket maker, to connect is to "weave together," rudimentary means "in the rough

on 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 Europe

to interfere is to "strike between," Old Fr. entreferir. This word was especially used in the 16th century of a horse knocking its legs together in trotting, "to interfeere, as a horse" (Cotgrave). When we speak of a prentice-hand, sound

ctives as jovial, mercurial, are reminiscent of astrology. To bring a thing to the test is to put it in the alchemist's or metallurgist's test or trying-pot (cf. test-tube

me more test mad

ble and so g

mp'd u

for Measu

S-SPICK

s similarly used at Carlisle, and probably elsewhere; but to most people it is familiar only in the me

are in the

and Hearth

e. It is a very early loan from Lat. scamnum, a bench or form, also explained by Cooper as "a step or grice (see p. 1

Old Fr. fusté, "fusty; tasting of the caske, smelling of the vessell wherein

nd-new, often corrupted into bra

ome excellent jests, fire-new from the mint, y

Night,

splinterneu, chip new, splinter new; which shows the origin of our spick and span (new), i.e

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." Crestfallen and white feather belong to the old spor

s finger and h

ox, which e

ose, and took

ry IV.

t preyed for her selfe long before she was taken." Hence the sense of wild, untameable. The original meaning

NG MET

?llt mir wohl, it "falls out" well for me. There can be no reasonable doubt that the deuce! is a dicer's exclamation at making the lowest throw, two, Fr. deux. We still use deuce for the two in cards,

tions and warm

swift in mot

bandy her to

is to

nd Julie

o incage, or ingaole" (Cotgrave), hence to entice. Fr. ge?le, gaol, represents Vulgar Lat. *caveola. Decoy, earlier also coy, is Du. kooi, cage. The later form is perhaps due to duck-coy.

nose with fum

id the devil

ras, i

cer. To allure is to bring to the lure, or bait. To the same group of metaphors belongs inveigle, which corresponds, with altered prefix, to Fr. aveugler, to blind, Vulgar Lat. *ab-oculare.

s a swindling "horse-courser" as a "meere jadish Non-politane," a play on Neapolitan. The Italian name is cozzone, "a horse-courser, a horse-breaker, a craftie knave" (Florio), whence the verb cozzonare, "to have perfect skill in all cosenages" (Torriano). The essential idea of to cozen in the Elizabethans is that of selling faulty goods in a bad light,

ed; and by the

gdom, kindred,

d III.,

german" and "German cozeners." An exact parallel to the history of cozen is fu

ICUL

graphium, a pencil, from the shape of the slip. But the older word was imp, which we find also used of inserting a new feather into the wing or tail of a hawk, or fitting a small bell-rope to a larger one. The art of grafting was learnt from the Romans, who had a post-classical verb imputare,[87] to graft, which has gi

uard and keep, most

ry IV.

n his last letter to H

, the prince's grace

mps (children) of Satan," "the devil and his imps," etc. Ger. impfen also means to vaccinate. Our ear

wine. It is a French word of unknown origin, properly applied to the inner skin of fruit and nuts.

TNO

ship for a ha'porth of tar." Few people who use this metaphor know that ship is here the dialect pronunciation of sheep; cf. Ship Street, at Oxford (and elsewhere), for Sheep Street. Tar was, an

mettle,

whence obsolete Eng. foist in the same sense. Both meanings seem to go ba

mouth agape; bailler, to yawn; and badau

he Stickit

culus, lit. white eye, is used of blind

. putare, to cut (cf. amputat

us, eye, in th