Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 May 1877 — Curious Derivations. [ARTICLE]

Curious Derivations.

Tna word pamphlet is derived from the name of a Greek authoress, Pamnhylia, who compiled a history of the world into thirty-five little books. “ Punch and Judy” is a contraction from Pbntius and Judas. It is a relic of an old “•miracle play,” in which the actors were Fbntius Pilate and Judas Iscariot. “ Bigot" is from Visigoths, in which the fierce and intolerant Arianism of the Visigoth conqueror of Spain has been handed down to infamy. “Humbug" is from Hamburg; “a piece of Hamburg hews” was in Germany a proverbial expression for false political rumors, “ Gauze" derives its name from Gaza, where it was first made. “Tabby cat" is all unconscious that her name is derived from Atab, a famous street in Bagdad, inhabited by the manufacturers of silken stuffs called Atabi, or taffhty, tiie wavy markings of the watered silks resembling pussy’s coat. “ Old Scratch” is the demon Bkratti, who still surviv'd in the superstitions of Northern Europe. “ Old Nick" Is none other than Nikr, the dangerous water-demon of the Bcandianavian legend. The lemon takes its name from the City of Lima.— /exchange.