Origin of "Viz."

1895

The contraction "viz" is a curious instance of the universality of arbitrary signs. There are few writers who do not appreciate the fact that the little contraction may be used in "good form" writing of all kinds, but there are probably even fewer persons who have any idea of its origin. It is a corruption of the word videlicet, the terminal letter of which was formerly made in the shape of a "z," but was never intended to represent that letter, being simply used as a mark or sign of abbreviation. It is now always written and expressed as "z" and will doubtless continue to be so used as long as written language exists. It is, however, as we have said, one of the many arbitrary modes of expression used by the masses, who never give a thought as to their origin. — St. Louis Republic.



His Bad Habit.

"He is a fine young man," said Mabel's father. "I am surprised that you treat him so harshly."
"Perhaps you don't know him as well as I do, father?"
"I know him pretty well. He has no bad habits at all."
"He has one of which I disapprove very much."
"He has?"
"Yes; I can't break him of proposing to me." — Washington Star.

The Original Blowout

1895

"You have often heard the expression 'We had a great blowout last night,' used in connection with a dance or some sort of amusement," said a gentleman yesterday. "Do you know the origin of the word 'blowout?' No? Well, I'll tell you of it. Away back in the thirties the cotton mills at Lowell, Mass., were furnished with operatives from the families of the farmers living about the town. The sons and daughters of the sturdy farmers held positions in the mills, and coming from such good old stock there was a sort of social spirit developed among the employees which is not found in factories in these days. From the factories of Lowell some prominent people have come. Helen Hunt Jackson was employed there at one time.

"The hours were long, and in winter time lamps had to be provided to give light to the workers. It was before the days of kerosene, or, as they used to pronounce it when it did come out, 'kerosen,' with the accent on the 'o.' Whale oil lamps were burned. They were lighted on Nov. 1 regularly every year, and their use was dispensed with on May 1. It was the operation on this latter date that originated the word 'blowout.' When the bell sounded on this day to quit work, all lamps were blown out simultaneously, not to be lighted again until November. This was called the 'blowout,' and after this a dance or supper would be given, which at first was called the 'blowout dance,' or 'blowout supper,' until finally any festivity attending the extinguishing of the lamps for the year was called 'the blowout.' So the word 'blowout' was originated." — Pittsburg Dispatch.

Ten Long Words

1895

A correspondent wants to know if the telegraph companies would send the following ten words, which he says are the ten largest words in the language, at the regular rates for ten words: Valetudinarianism, subconstitutionalist, incomprehensibility, philoprogenitiveness, honorificibilitudinity, anthropophagenenarian, disproportionableness, velocipedestrianistical, transubstantiationableness, proantitransubstantiationist. He can easily find out by sending them. — New York Tribune.

The Accent

1895

Mr. Story, the sculptor, who began life as a lawyer, tells a good story which illustrates the fact that the emphasis which punctuates has as much to do with determining the sense of a sentence as the meaning of the words.

Once, when he was called upon to defend a woman accused of murdering her husband, he adduced as one of the proofs of her innocence the fact of her having attended him on his deathbed and said to him when he was dying, "Good by, George!"

The counsel for the plaintiff declared that ought rather to be taken as a proof of her guilt, and that the words she had used were, "Good, by George!" — New York Dispatch.

Encouragement

1895

"Swiggles' books are very well spoken of, are they not?" asked the timid looking man.
"Yes, sir," replied the bookseller. "Some of the critics praise them highly."
"And I suppose there will be a pretty active demand for them in time?"
"Oh, yes, " said the dealer. "After Swiggles is dead everybody will be wanting to read them."
The timid looking man went softly away. He was Swiggles. — Chicago Tribune.


"We Call It the Gym"

The Vassar girl was home on a visit.
"Dorothy," queried Aunt Minerva in a tone freighted with earnest purpose, "which do you say at Vassar — 'gymnaysium' or 'gymnawsium?' "
And Dorothy promptly answered, "We call it the gym. " — Philadelphia Times.


Murder Will Out

The maxim, "Murder will out," is disproved by statistics. In the ten years ending with 1886 there were 1,766 murders committed in England and Wales, and in 1,094 of these cases no trace of the criminal was ever found that led to his apprehension


Scorpions

In many tropical countries the scorpion grows to the length of a foot.

Vocabularies

1895

Shakespeare's vocabulary is said to have been the largest used by any English writer, and he had not 25,000, but 15,000, and of these 500 were used only once. Milton's vocabulary comprised about 8,000 words. That of the average educated writer is said to include about 3,000 words, while the average business man uses only about 1,000 words. The average English laborer has about 400 words at his command. These estimates are of British origin and are not recent. We're inclined to think that the business man and the mechanic in this country have rather more extensive vocabularies than these estimates suggest. — New York Sun.


A Concert

Jobson — Hello, Dobson. See the piano factory fire last night?
Dobson — Yes. Firemen worked like beavers.
Jobson — No, they didn't. They had a regular concert.
Dobson —I don't see how you make that out.
Jobson — Weren't they playing on the pianos? — London Tit-Bits.

"Once" For "When Once"

1895

Within the last few years this misuse of the word "once" has become quite common. Is it a provincialism, which has gradually slipped into common use by mere unconscious imitation? I read, "Once he had crossed the river, his victory was certain." Of course "when once," or simply "when," is here the proper form of expression. — Notes and Queries.

Young D. Webster Is Office Cut-Up

1916

NEEDS A SELF-ACTING BRAKE, EDITOR SAYS.

Lad All Right in a Way, but His Journalistic Rise Is Too Swift.

(From the Brownville Bugle.)

Daniel Webster Suggs, our new office boy, is developing fast. We picked him for a winner the first time we clapped eyes on him, but, at the same time, we are convinced that some effective means must be employed to hold him back, or else he'll soon consider himself as the Bugle's publisher, managing editor, mechanical superintendent and general manager at-large. The lad is all right, but needs some kind of a self-acting brake.

Bill and Maria Suggs certainly knew what they were about when they named their first-born after the great and illustrious D. Webster. This 13-year-old offspring of their's bids fair, in all due time, to implant the proud name of Suggs high on the emblazoned wall of fame, if in the meantime it is not enrolled among the names of those who are held behind more substantial walls. But we are digressing.

It was about three o'clock yesterday afternoon when the effulgent Daniel broke thru the customary privacy of our sanctum sanctorum and with bulging eyes asked us if we had missed the last ornithorhynchus. There had been two or three of these ornithorhynchuses asking for us, he said, but the last ornithorhynchus was the fiercest of the bunch, he informed us, and he then dropped a hint that perhaps it was just as well for us that we didn't meet the last ornithorhynchus that called.

Now, while it was true that we wouldn't have recognized a genuine ornithorhynchus if we saw it approaching all lit up, still, we decided it was not good managerial policy to let our youthful and unsalted Webster get wise to the fact, as it is the rankest sort of a mistake for a recognized journalist to put his "don't know" stamp on any kind of a problematical question presented by his intellectual inferiors. Better to get by with "weasel" words.

We admit, however, that this ornithorhynchus business was something we couldn't shake off. Then, at half-past five, as we were closing up the Bugle plant, this remarkable Websterian youth again put us up in the air by telling us there was a lot of ornithorhynchuses chasing after his father, and his father might have to jump town to shake them off. "Dad's fooled them afore by doing that," he said, "but, of course," he went on, "guys like you can't do anything like that, 'cause you got a business. Dad says it's a wise guy that keeps his business in a trunk, like the actors and actorines does. The ornithorhynchus never can put it over the actor people, 'cause they allus see 'em first, clap their props in the trunk and beat it down the back stairs. Some ornithorhynchuses You can see a mile off, 'cause some are yellow, and some are green, and once I saw a red one."

After the lad had gone we made up our mind we would solve the mystery of the ornithorhynchus if it took until midnight. Finally our nigh eye happened to light on the big dictionary — probably attracted that way by the name of Webster on the cover — and we lost no time in finding out if there was any such word as ornithorhynchus in it.

There was. Plain as day and as long as a piece of string. Just like this:

ORNITHORHYNCHUS — Beast with a bill.

There you have it. O-r-n-i-t-h-o-r-h-y-n-c-h-u-s — pests that come around after money when they ought to know you haven't got any.

—The Saturday Blade, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 10.

A Curious Coincidence

1901

The letters "O N" might be supposed to possess a mysterious charm, as they form the termination of many of the most distinguished names in history. No other letters of the alphabet will furnish so remarkable a coincidence as may be found in the following list made up from ancient and modern names: Aaron, Solomon, Agamemnon, Solon, Bion, Phocion, Bacon, Newton, Johnson, Addison, Crichton, Porson, Buffon, Montfaucon, Tillotson, Fenelon, Massillon, Warburton, Leighton, Lytton, Walton, Anacreon, Ben Jonson, Milton, Byron, Thomson, Tennyson, Anson, Washington, Napoleon, Wellington, etc.

A Greek scholar has called attention to a very curious coincidence about the name of Napoleon. If you take away the first letter of his name, you have "apoleon;" take away the first letter of that word, and you have "poleon;" do this successively down to the last syllable, and you have "leon," "eon," and "on." Put these several words together in this order, Napoleon on oleon leon eon apoleon poleon, and you have a Greek phrase the literal translation of which is "Napoleon, being the lion of peoples, went about destroying cities."

Street Illumination

1917

"Illuminating engineers are now turning all their energies toward a system for the proper distribution of street lighting," writes Walter R. Howell in Good Health. "They have unanimously agreed that the best light is that from a globe that is dense enough not to reveal the form of the actual light within, but to give the effect of light streaming forth from the globe."

The reason for this is that street lamps are necessarily against a dark background, and the amount of glare upon the eyes depends to a great degree upon the background against which the light is seen. An electric light, unshaded, against a dark velvet wall covering, for instance, will be found much more trying to the eyes than would the same light with a white wall paper behind it.


The Name of Arizona

Arizona, probably Arizonac in its original form, was the native and probably Pima name of the place — of a hill, valley, stream or some other local feature — just south of the modern boundary, in the mountains still so called, on the headwaters of the stream flowing past Saric, where the famous Planchas de Plata mine was discovered in the middle of the eighteenth century, the name being first known to the Spaniards in that connection and being applied to the mining camp or real de minas. The aboriginal meaning of the term is not known. The name should probably be written and pronounced Arisona. as our English sound of z does not occur in Spanish. — H. H. Bancroft, "History of the Pacific States."

Puzzles in Chinese Names

1900

"When I went to school I was always at the head of the class in geography," said the Studious Citizen. "I could 'bound' anything and name the nearest route to almost any place. I've always kept up my interest in geography, but latterly the pursuit is almost too much for me. The world is growing, I suppose, and I'm getting old.

"The Spanish-American War put a heavy strain on me; had to learn a lot of new places, you know. Well, that soon ended. I was getting pretty well acquainted with the Philippines, when the South African War came along.

"I wouldn't like to say, on the spur of the moment, which are the harder to spell, pronounce and remember, Philippine names or South African names. But neither can compare with the Chinese names that we have to keep track of now."

The Studious Citizen spread out his reference books and invited the guest to look on. "Why, sir," he added, testily, "if you'll believe me, the geographers and statisticians don't know how to spell 'em themselves!

"Take the 'royal province' of China, the province that contains the capital city of Pekin. (Call it 'Peking,' if you want to; you'll find books to back you up.) The 'Statesman's Year-Book' names that province 'Chili' and `Chihli.' 'Rand & McNally's Atlas' calls it 'Chihli.' 'Cram's Atlas' adds some decorative frills and brings forth 'Pe-Chi-Li.' And 'Lippincott's Gazetteer' gives you three guesses, 'Pe-Chee-Lee,' 'Chee-Lee' and 'Chi-Li.'

"Suppose we look up that city from which the allies started for Pekin. 'Tient-sin' the 'Statesman's Year-Book' calls it on one page; on another page it prints the name as one word, without any hyphen. 'Cram' declares it is 'Tien-sin,' the 'Rand Atlas' prefers 'Tientsin,' and 'Lippincott' drops in an extra capital and gives us 'Tien-Tsin.'

"But the time the map-makers really get into the worst tangle is when they come to name the northern terminus of the Imperial Railway, a city at the head of the Gulf of Liao-Tung — or Leao Tong, or Liautung. The 'Year-Book' calls it 'ChenChou'; 'Cram' says 'Kinchow'; the 'Rand Atlas' pronounces for 'Kinchau,' and 'Lippincott's Gazetteer,' which is nothing if not generous, suggests 'Kin-Choo,' 'Kin-Tchoo' and 'Kin-Tchou.'

"'Who shall decide when doctors disagree?' Well, these are all authorities, and probably it would be as safe to follow one as another. But he will be a clever man who, when writing about Chinese matters, doesn't sometimes spell a name in two or three different ways. I shall have a great deal of sympathy for editors while this trouble lasts.

"I wonder they don't all print in their papers some such notice as that which was hung over the dance-hall piano in the Western mining-camp. You remember it? 'Please don't shoot at the piano-player,' it said. 'He is doing the best he can.'" — Youth's Companion.

Ireland's National Emblem – The Shamrock

1905

There are few plants, if any, that are as closely associated in the people's wind with any one nation in particular as is the little Irish shamrock with the joys and sorrows of the Emerald Isle.

In the ancient literature of Erin the word occurs variously as seamsog, seamrog, seamrego, shamrote, shamrocke, shamroke, shamrough or shamroote, shamrug, shamroge, seamar-oge and chambroch. The word "shamrock" is Erse, being derived from seamrog, a compound of seamar, meaning trefoil, and og, little — little clover. Scamar is supposed to be the same as sumar, obtained from the Celtic name of the clover — visnmarus.

As to the plant itself, it is generally considered that the true shamrock is either the black nonesuch or the Dutch clover, with a decided preference for the first named, on no less an authority than the curator of the Dublin Botanic Gardens and other competent persons. There are, however, some who hold that Trifolium repens or Trifolium minus is the true shamrock, and this opinion emanates from experts in the Agricultural Department at Washington.

Other writers have adopted the fancy of Bicheno, who advocated the right of the wood sorrel to this honor. This last belief may have arisen from the appearance of the word seamsoge, meaning wood sorrel, in old Irish writings, referring to the shamrock, but by those competent to judge this is thought to be a misprint, the word seamroge signifying meadow trefoil, having been meant.

The earliest references to the shamrock in Irish literature deal with it as a food plant. Campion, in his "Historic of Ireland," dated 1571, says, in speaking of the food of the common people: "Shamrotes, watercresses and other herbes they feed upon: oatmele and butter they cram together."

What "Decimated" Means

1915

The French communique described the attacking Germans east of Rheims as having been "decimated." Many persons wonder whether the word was used in its strict sense, or in the looser fashion now too common, as signifying very heavy loss.

"Decimated" is, in fact, a much weaker word than many who employ it realize. It means only the loss of one in ten. The original "decimation" was the Roman military punishment of a number of soldiers who had been guilty of some joint crime. One-tenth were chosen by lot to be punished with death or some other penalty, the rest getting off with the substitution of barley for wheat in their rations.

That the punishment was not common in early Rome is shown by the fact that the verb "decimare" is post-Augustan; but an instance of the practice occurs as early as 470 B. C.


Rabbits Adopted By a Motherly Cat

1905

Glen Mallory of Athens, New York state, has a handsome cat which has mothered eight baby rabbits. She had recently raised a number of kittens, having had them, in a comfortable box in the cellar of the house.

When they were weaned and given away the cat, which has long been a great favorite in the house, owing to its sagacity, was restless and ill at ease. A few days ago she disappeared and in a couple of days returned. When she was found there were in the nest eight little bunnies, apparently well contented with the great care which she bestowed upon them.

Where she got them is a mystery, and her owner is curious to know whether she stole them from the nest of some rabbit or whether their own mother was recently bagged by some enterprising hunter.

Ostentatious Humor of the Day

1896

Little Brother — "Do you know what 'ostentation' means?" Little Sister — "The way other people show off. — Puck.

The sun never sets on the British dominions, and it rises occasionally in London. — Puck.

The great grief at forty is the discovery that eye-glasses are not becoming. — Atchison Globe.

An egg and an office-boy differ in that one is best when it's fresh and the other isn't. — Philadelphia Record.

Border — "I never eat shad." Wyld — "Why?" Border — "It always reminds me of boneless codfish." — Puck.

The Professor (awakening) — "Is there anybody in this room?" The Burglar — "No, sir." The Professor — "Oh, I thought there was." (Falls asleep again.) — Life.

"Fannie, I have told you time and again not to speak when other persons were talking, but wait until they stop." "I've tried that already mamma. They never stop." — Texas Sifter.

First Woman — "I was suffering untold agony." Second Woman — "Dear me! What did you do?" First Woman — "Oh, a neighbor happened in just in the nick of time and I told her." — Detroit Tribune.

She — "I hope, dear, you were not thinking of business in church this morning. You know your thoughts should be of higher things?" He — "Well, I was thinking of that $22 bonnet of yours. Is that high enough, think you?" — Statesman.

Absent-minded Professor — "I don't know what's the matter with me, doctor, I am perpetually limping to-day. Is it locomotor ataxy, I wonder?" Doctor — "Why, professor, you are walking with one foot on the curbstone and the other in the gutter."

Romantic Miss — "Have there not been moments in your experience when life seemed full of unsatisfied wants?" Mr. Hardhead — "Y-e-s, that's so." "At such times I always fly to music for relief. What do you do, Mr. Hardhead?" "I advertise." — Spare Moments.

"Some folks think this Venezuelan affair will be settled without trouble, but I'll dogon if I do," said Mr. Janson, as the crowd about the grocery store made room for the old man. "I never see one of these here line fence quarrels yit that didn't wind up in a fight!" — Indianapolis Journal.

"I don't know," muttered Rivers, picking himself up from the sidewalk and moving on with a perceptible limp, "whether there is any such thing as a bicycle face or not, but I am thoroughly convinced of the existence of the phenomenon known as the banana skin." — Chicago Tribune.

Wood for Resisting Fires

1896

A report from Consul Robertson on the free port system of Hamburg, just published by the State Department, contains the curious item of information that in the great new warehouses constructed in the German port wood is being substituted for iron to secure better protection against fire.

These buildings were originally provided with iron beams and girders, but when one of them was burned some years ago it was found that the iron had been so bent and twisted by the heat as to become a source of great danger to the adjoining structures. "In all the warehouses, therefore, which have since been built," observes Mr. Robertson, "it has been deemed advisable to substitute wood for iron as much as possible." Probably a heavy wooden beam, imbedded in some non-conducting material that would exclude the air, would be as nearly fireproof as anything except brick or stone. It might be charred on the outside, but the interior would probably remain sound in any ordinary heat.

It is a curious speculation to imagine what would have happened if the present method of construction in Chicago had been in vogue before the great fire. A twenty-five-story, steel-cage building warping into a corkscrew and boring a hole in the sky would be a spectacle worth going miles to see.


Derivation of Whiskers

The word whiskers is derived from whisk, and the Anglo-Saxon wisch, which means a slight brush. Less than a century ago the expression was unheard of, the whiskers as well as the mustache being spoken of as part of the beard. It was only when the latter was divided, and the true whiskers disappeared as well, that their name was changed to the mutton chop part of the beard left on the cheek.

Indians Believed to Be Syrians

1896

Canon J. D. Good, of British Columbia, tells a San Francisco Call reporter that his long residence among the Columbian Indians warrants him in saying that the latter are of Syrian origin, and are, in fact, Syrians now, having the customs and language. "I was astonished at the richness of this language." he said, "and its wonderful capacity for accurate expression.

"I found many pure Syrian words in it, as, for instance, Eneas and Solomon-Chute, among proper names. The words of the language are historical and traditional, and observe the same laws as those of the Syrian language. I think the language of the Thompson River Indians is one of the Toranian tongues. There are direct Syrian words in it.

"Then there are other evidences that these Indians are the Syrian descendants. Their medicine man is the same as the Syrian seer. The burial customs are to this day the same. Besides this there is the character of the people, who are Syrians in thought, habits of life, and general customs.

"When I first went among the Indians they had their war chiefs as well as their civil chiefs — the same as the Greeks. All I saw in every way convinced me, and I have during the ensuing years been very fully confirmed in my conviction that these Indians are Syrians."

Why They're Called Tumblers

1896

Every day we drink out of a tumbler. Why is the large glass that holds our milk and water so called? Years ago Professor Max Muller was giving a luncheon at All Souls' College, Oxford, to the Princess Alice, the wife of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt and the second daughter of Queen Victoria. There were not a dozen guests besides the Princess and her husband, and a very agreeable luncheon we had, with talk on all kinds of interesting subjects.

But what excited the curiosity of all strangers present was a set of little round bowls of silver, about the size of a large orange. They were brought round filled to the brim. Those, we are told, were tumblers, and we were speedily shown how they came by their names — a fitting lesson for the guests of a philologist. When one of these little bowls was empty it was placed upon the table mouth downward. Instantly, so perfect was its balance, it flew back to its proper position as if asking to be filled again. No matter how it was treated — trundled along the floors, balanced carefully on its side, dropped suddenly upon the soft, thick carpet, up it rolled again and settled itself with a few gentle shakings and swayings into its place, like one of those India rubber tumbling dolls babies delight in.

This, then, was the origin of our word tumbler, at first made of silver, as are all these All Souls' tumblers. Then, when glass became common, the round glasses that stood on a flat base superseded the exquisitely balanced silver spheres and stole their names so successfully that you have to go to All Souls' to see the real thing. — Jeweler's Circular.

The Douglas Shoe

1900

The best advertised and consequently the best known shoe in the world today is undoubtedly made by the W. L. Douglas Shoe Co., of Brockton, Massachusetts.

The one idea of this company has always been to sell a shoe for $3.50 which equals in every way the $5 shoes of any other concern. They are able to do this on account of there being no middle man's profit, as the goods are sold direct from the factory to the wearer. In 60 of the principal cities of the country they have their own retail stores. The goods are made in all sizes and widths, and few shoes equal them for style and durability.

The factory at Brockton employs over 3,100 hands, and, all labor troubles are settled by the state board of arbitration. Nothing but union labor is employed, and pay is about the best average wages of any shoe workers in the United States. The factory payroll amounts to $17,435 per week. This company makes shoes for men only, and it is their proud boast that over one million men wear them. — Denver (Colo.) Post.


Geese and Sages

One day in presiding at table at his country home in Windsor, Vermont, with a swarm of grandchildren about him, Senator William W. Evarts is said to have asked: "What is the difference between this goose before dinner and me after?" After much futile guessing, he answered, in quiet glee: "Now the goose is stuffed with sage, and soon the sage" — pointing to himself — "will be stuffed with the goose."


Words

In coining such modern words as "telegram," "photography," etc., the Japanese have recourse to the Chinese language, as we do to the Greek.

Wise Compromise in Slang

1914

"Good slang is permissible among school children," according to Dr. G. Stanley Hall. Precisely the same thing is true of college boys, of college girls and of the rest of us.

Slang is inevitable. To thunder against it, to ignore it, to burlesque it is equally idle. Since we cannot end it — and really, we should not and would not if we could — the part of wisdom is endeavor to mend it. Let educators direct their satire and condemnation against vulgar, vicious, idiotic slang — of which there is abundance — and they will accomplish something. The slang that is racy, spontaneous, humorous, expressive deserves kindly toleration if not encouragement. Some of it establishes itself and becomes classical English.

As to the question what good slang is, it is manifestly foolish. There is no fixed test, but persons of taste and cultivation have no difficulty in differentiating between legitimate slang and grotesque, silly and offensive slang.

Comment: So, slang is manifestly foolish, yet it deserves kindly toleration if not encouragement, because some of it will establish itself and become classical English (like that's any kind of goal.) "We would not [end it] if we could." Somehow I don't believe you, anonymous writer of long ago.

Origin of Some of World's Most Popular Quotations

1914

Famous Words That Will Endure

Cynical Old Diogenes Told the World "Habit Is Second Nature"

It is recorded that an ignorant person, explaining her distaste for Shakespearean performances, said that his plays were too full of quotations. Yet we, too, though we may pride ourselves upon our learning, probably do not know the origin of half the common phrases we use as carelessly as verbs in our daily conversation.

No less a person than Cicero first made use of the expression, "While there's life there's hope," in a letter he wrote to Atticus. "We are in the same boat" is not modern slang, but occurs in a letter written by Clement I., bishop of Rome, to the Church of Corinth in the first century. This letter is extant and is one of the prized documents of the early church.

"I never put off till tomorrow what I can do today," was Lord Chesterfield's explanation of how he managed to do so much work. "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well" he wrote later in the famous letters to his son.

In some of the expressions we use habitually may be crystallized an epoch of history. Such is the motto of the Order of the Garter, "Honi soit qui mai y pense" ("Shamed be he who thinks evil of it"), which was given by Edward III. of England. Wishing to draw the best soldiers in the world to him, he proposed a revival of the round table of King Arthur, holding a tournament at Windsor castle on New Year's day, 1344. After the contest of arms the guests were entertained at his expense at a round table. Philip, king of France, was jealous over the interest this aroused and forbade his subjects to attend, at the same time misrepresenting Edward's motives. Several years later, when Edward founded the Order of the Garter, he chose a motto that seemed to challenge his rival monarch to think wrong of it if he dared.

Later English history has not been laggard in increasing the supply of apt remarks that have grown into everyday sayings. Lord Eldon, lord chancellor of England during the first twenty-six years of the nineteenth century, continually mispronounced the name of Henry Brougham, afterward to be a successor in the chancellor's office. Brougham objected to be called Broffam, and in this regard Eldon was the chief offender. Once, after Brougham had made an excellent speech, Eldon by way of apology pronounced his name correctly and made a proverb, "New brooms sweep clean."

The same expression occurs frequently to different people who could have no knowledge that their thought had been given utterance before. "No man is a hero to his valet" has been paraphrased by scores, from Mme. du Cornuel, a witty Frenchwoman of the seventeenth century, to Dr. Johnson and Napoleon. The first record of it, however, is found in Plutarch, who states that when Hermodotus addressed a poem to Antigonous I., king of Sparta, hailing him as son of the sun and a god, the monarch replied, "My body servant sings me no such song."

It was Diogenes, the cynic, who declared that "habit is second nature." The phrase "circumstances over which he has no control" was used by the Duke of Wellington in a letter concerning some affairs in which his son was mixed up and with which be declined to interfere. Dickens also used the expression a few years later when he had Micawber write to David Copperfield. "Circumstances beyond my individual control," etc.

"Conspicuous by their absence" has been used on many occasions in modern oratory. It was first used by Tacitus in relating that in the funeral procession of Julia, niece of Cato, sister of Brutus, wife of Cassius, many of the images of the most famous families in Rome were seen, but "Cassius and Brutus shone pre-eminent because their images were not displayed."

"Nothing is certain but death and taxes," wrote Benjamin Franklin, stating that the constitution of the United States was in operation and to all appearances would last.

"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones" was said by James I. of England when his favorite, the Duke of Buckingham, complained that a mob had broken his glass windows, which were at that time a luxury.

"Mind your p's and q's" is said to have been taken from an old French phrase at the time of Louis XIV. A very low bow was in fashion, and the dancing master in instructing his pupils would warn them to look out for the position of the feet and the movement of the head lest their cue wigs be disarranged. The French word for foot is pied. "Mind your pieds and queues" soon came to be transplanted into English and abbreviated.

Wallace Irwin once complained that when he had been invited to be funny at a banquet his real gems of wit were addressed to the back of his chauffeur on the way home. But what's the difference? According to the Latin poet, upheld by modern investigation, everything you could possibly say has been said before. — Anna Bird Stewart in Minneapolis Journal.