Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1883 — OLD SAYINGS. [ARTICLE]

OLD SAYINGS.

The Origin of Some Popular Phrases. Crosspatch.—“ Patch” was at ope time a term of contempt. It did not, as Paris suggests, necessarily mean a fool, but signified what we now mean by a contemptible fellow. Shakspeare, in “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” says: A crew of patches, base mechanicals. “Crosspatch” is the only remnant of the woi;d. It is very expressive of across, ill-tempered, disagreeable person. Mad as a March Hare.—A familiar saying found in Skilton’s “Reply Against Certayne Young Scholars” (1520), and also in Heywood’s “Proverbs” (1546). Burden of a Song.—“Bourdon” is the drone of a bagpipe, hence a running accompaniment or repetition of musical sounds or words is called the “burden.” „ Sadder and a Wiser Man.—This phrase is from the “Ancient Mariner," by Coleridge: A sadder and a wiser man He rose the morrow mom. —Balderdash.—Originally the froth or lather made by barbers in dashing balls of soap backwards and forwards in hot water. Bubbly spume or barbers balderdash. — Xatht, 1599. Malaprop, Mr A -A character in Sheridan’s comedy of “The Rivals,” noted for her blunders in the use of words. The name is obviously derived from the French mal a propos, unapt, illtimed. Every One to His Own Taste.—A literal translation of the French proverb, Cliacun a son gout. It is generally used satirically, as, “Well, I didn’t think he would associate with people of that kind; "but (with a shrug), every one to his own taste."

Whisky.—The stuff itself was originally an Irish manufacture, and was -called usquebaugh (pronounced US-kioe-baw), from uisge —water, and seaf/ia—life. It meant “the water of life.”. The reason the last syllable was omitted may be that its use oftener led to death than to life. It was called usque, and finally spelled whisky. Folded Their Tents .Like the Arabs. —Longfellow, in his poem “The Day is Done;” wrote the verse from which this now very common saying was taken: And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that Infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. Siesta.—This Spanish term for a nap in the day-time has become completely naturalized in this country. The Spanish nap is usually taken about noon, which, in their reckoning, is the sixth hour (sesta). Hence in Spanish sestear is to take the mid-day nap, and sesteador is the room appropriated for the purpose, usually on the north side of the house. Sambo.—A cant designation of the negro race. The following passage, immortalizing the appellation, is from Harriet Beecher Stowe: “No race lias ever shown such capabilities of adaptation to varying soil and circumstances as the negro. Alike to them the snows of Canada, the hard rock land of New England or the gorgeous profusion of the Southern States, Sambo and Cuffy expand under them all.” Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady This is a very old proverb. In a “Proper New Ballad in Praise of My Lady Marynes,” printed iii 1639, are these lines: Then have amongst ye once again, Faint harts falre ladies never win. In “Britain’s Ida,” by Spenser, Canto v., Stanza i., the second line reads: ‘ Oh, fool! faint heart fair lady never could win. Cheers But Not Inebriates.—Cowper used this phrase in reference to tea, but it had been previously applied by Bishop Berkley to tar-water. In his work “Siris,” paragraph 217, the Bishop says: “Tar-water is of a nature so mild and benigh, and proportioned to the human constitution, as td warm without heating, to cheer but not inebriate, and to produce a cairn and steady joy, like the effect of good news.” Standing in Another’s Shoes.—ln an article on “Legal Usages Among the Ancient Northmen,” in Bay ley’s graphic illustration (London, 1834), it is said “The right of adoption obtained one form of it consisted in making the adopted put on the shoes of the adopter. It has been asked whether our phrase of ‘standing in his shoes, may not owe its origin to this custom.” ;