Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 May 1870 — METAPHORS OF THE PEOPLE. [ARTICLE]

METAPHORS OF THE PEOPLE.

“No advance,” says Max Miller, “ was in theintelleotwal life of naan without metaphor;” and ho admirably shows how words multiply and language increases its capacity through the tendency of men to phaerye resemblances. “ Thus fronj KtyptS meaning to shine, to be bright, names were formed for sun, moon, stars, the of,;men, gold, silver, play, joy, hapnmess, Tort. With roots meaning to strike, it was possible to name atf axe, the thunderbolt, a list, a paralytic stroke, a strikingYfmar’lt, and a Stroki of busings. From roots meaning; to go, names were, derived for clduds, for ivy, for creeper?, serpents, cattle aud chattel, movable ana inmoyahje property.” Metaphorical synonyms became prevalent, as when the sun was called the bright, the golden, the preJta qualitaes, or when clouds we.ve called mountains, and rain clouds cows.with.heavy udders. Metaphor, it is thus seen, is the wellspring- from which' are drawn the Ipnumerqbjj synonyms which swell our language. Ts ouf words were divested of all but their original, literal meanings, half of what Is wjtitten from day to day would be ufilnteyigibJe. ,We should receive no vivid idea from the description of a man of mettle with iron frame and nerves of steet“ ’'^ ’ | The ffcqguage is foil of this metaphorical of fiords. The fact has been espeehmy-TTmicfea'By the jokers of the period, who produce some of their easiest ssm shoe for the foot of a mountain and a hat for the head of a discourse, though it a poor old gentleman who sat down on face infi ao young lady who feinted at ft barefrfou/Who.jWorftspectaetos to coyer her naked eyes,Whoroftiseflt6 sit in thft lap of. i ofctntfy/' even pushing at plurahofi Mp)^and ; who would not go to the sea-sJfrtro Jett heYihlfct Should be encircled by an arm of thh Sea. Among a list of curiosities might be llpe wi)h.wW6h a fisherman caught a cold ; the hammer which brotaifp « meeting; a Alike .from the anphor of honei ope pf the spurs of the Stef ragMj-aliow.wSmStfed a heaHfcVJiba a epat of the' tyeipt .fcjjiotato;, ear of cprn; cheese made from the milk "of huWMAlfl&eis,‘butter from the cream of a got. from a nest at wo .;, 0 . i.- • r-i -«i . Built Is more especially our purpose to note the commonest classes develops, unoeaaiDgly juj«v metaphors and ggrte*}* 6 fancies. There is an odd illustration of this in some of the names for articles of apparel. The coromonblaQh hat never had a re spectacle name, probably on account of the Miotertt l > a f tedl i 4(?Ss^fe; l lowering up to an be called a beaver, but .that name is no longe®pm»rqtpth»hat being made-ofiilki Its most coonnon Utiehftthb metaphorical one of “ sieve-pipe," which suggests not. only it- shape, but the heat-generated in; side pedtioua a droei-coaS swrA belly ”(J»4 paytjeular jrqferewep tp a shape of the front that js now out of vogue; thq gives an dtcellent idea of thetails. But perhaps none of these is as expressive or.the present shape fall dress, a» the name hvjhe West Point cadets of standing pollftf was called “,m)t-tht.<>at, .. which was peculiarly approwvifte and ..suggestive, The white neck-u#,„),ugsd„ o j)y. some'! clergymen has geskoralljMtha ftppettoanfle.ol being tied very tighdfaffid seems to acquire from this circumstance the designation of" choker.” Sm“*ipW!>!©ilS« “>?'L'S&ffiLftSLMSSffiJK cabbaH», (renmtiott W the fltrtfgiAge, given bv CqD knot orfcnarre of/wbodliV tvmberd’ f :Srhe' earliest .description,,,ls found in the MUndm Muliebris, 1690, tpe "chou»" aa u the

great round boss or bundle of hair, worn cabbage, from whence tno French gftve it that Tuimd” United States bills have'uo popular name but ft* greepbacke.” “Ihf titla of “stamps' 1 for fractional currency Was used at the time, durin*y r the civil mus, When the scarcity of small change neces sitated the use of postage stamps -includ--a^HSASS that they were so plenty and worthless that the soldiers used them as plasters “belly-timber,” and its receptacle the bread-basket. It would nA Ibe satlafae tory to some to speak of a looomotite oran engine, but join the idea of an infuriated animal tp the syllable “ giue,” and 2?. “ tusk-hoister” and “ tooth-carpenter.” In the Southwest, durinjf ,the,war, the uneducated people >df a Attachment of cavalry as a “ critter-com-pany,” of infantry as “walk-soldiers,” and V artillery is “ catnoa-wagtos.” Thu youftg men ©FCmlcagb-feife classified as to their skill oh the velocipede, it is said, into the “ timid toddlera’rthp “ wary wabblers,” the “ go-lt-gracexpky wind the “{fancy few.” Still more grotesque was the fancy of a youqg man who always referrtd to a Stohe houseas <mfcbx,y?bicb the undeepinnihg reached *» soof, and who, when asked if he wduld have milk and sugar in his tea, replied. “ No, 1 gmi'ly take my tea barefoot ” \

« In the same way flowers get stteh flames as shepherd’s-dial, because of its susceptibility to changes of weather; wake-robin and! cuckoo-flower, which -blossom when tie songs-of thoief l>!fdsilire first' heafd; lady’s-smock, “ all silver white,” as Shaksp’oare sings, becai£ff*it Msembles white linen laid out upon the tifcadAwsVlufi!f , W ear-drop, lady’s slipper, morning-glory, youth and old age, love-Ues-a-bleeding, and many more which might be mentioned. In the eastern part 6f England, evening is called crow’s-time, because of the gathering Of the rooka to-wsk - autumn, Which fetishftfiy ctfHedan Americanism, though it is used hy Dryden in that sense, is a pretty metaphor by itself. Local circumstances suggest idiomatic metaphors and descriptive terffi*. In the Soutnweet, where people wear colored Gn% ; world, and When he-gets the best of a man Ihe pakes hltii " whittle down.” In? a couritxy where the raccoons are common, the people say that a thing “won’t be done ip a coon’s age.” In some English counties where rabbits or conies abound, sandy land is called oonyland, because it is only fit for breeding and feeding rabbits, and a common jest is that it may be plowed with two rabbits mid a knife. From this it wiU be seen, how appropriate is the name of that sandy place of resoft An New York harbor called Conjwsknd. All occupations, cpntribute to our.fund of me taphotical phrases. Thus, when a sailor wishes to shake hands with you, he says, “Tip us your fin ”; when he wishes to proquro money, he says ho wants do “raise the wind”: when he is pursuing an uncertain course, he is “off soundings ”; when he 4s the worse tordlqwbr, into eonimon conversation, but into the finest speeobos of the orators. Burke In his eulogium «n Charles Tovnlehend said, His etylfr ©f argumewt was neither diy, 1 aor vulgar, nor subtle and abtrusc; ho Mt thO house just MuMn-mindund, toatsr/J The phrasewto which we have diawn ab' tention might remind the reader of tho mystical song in-Swinburne’s “Atalsnta in Calydon,” beginning Between m* socsoUne tSe«a. A correspondent says of common conversation at Nahtuoket, that the boys in the street never throw a stone; they “ inglare “gone on a cruise. T&ejr don’t or rest; th#** 4 lay by.” is -knacks generally are t‘tackle” andfrijfc. ghig.” To-girTroid sfths to side, orf&ovt smmsm fttfd every man .is a captain., kJ When dting/a sailor says he is.about to “ sjip his cable," but a Caiiforaia^toge m&msssm position of his property,” hadn’tyoubej-. ter hand in your checks?" In View of tbe word'r<toowf, meaning £5mon rftmatfq wken*T* r *on is ilUlng an lmprobaWlJstoTyiffe, ‘t.Ukeli Among iram!ncn> ench all ex4ggefrftted story, apd the QrifiiHai ‘‘eaflard;’’ k 'Md to be that or a peraoo relatol that ho had eighteen of .jhpse ymmoua fawlg; that he cut. up. One # the* to the remaining seventeen; .anv .omer r and fcditto the remamipgiWUewi w another, and Ted; it ftp VwjfiEfeeu;, and so on until theroywas But one left, whioklmd consequently eaten . all the other serontofcn ducka liorj-an v t-l«i*-.!--? Ilbu>« -wll thousands metuph^haij parts of the worlm' How eapteesive of penury to say of a man,He;i« out at the elbowsof-oompulmon to say, “Hienoee was brought to the grindstoneof hu« mility, in Hf wis brbught to his marrow-bones; of receiving a strong hint to say, “Be went away. sb, took time by tho forelockof useloss repining to say, “He is crying for spffled milk,” or “ He is shivering tor last year’s snow.” What cotfld be better to than, ®Ho is awful great ■h a stick," unless it is the , “lie is a hard tnan toa fciggVs ?”■ To those fk* fd&h there must be,somes gestures, when one blow into a thousand quftking fragments.—2A« Galaxy. s*sas2ara^*»f-.«y w *** BW r , **“# +*..+y***»