A1. An expression meaning “first-rate.” Derived from Lloyd’s “Registry of Shipping,” in which letters denote the quality of a ship’s hull, and figures that of its equipment. A vessel registered A1 is of the first class in all respects.
Abbey Laird. An insolvent debtor who in former times sought the sanctuary of the precincts of Holyrood Abbey against arrest.
Abbey Road. From the ancient abbey of the Holy Virgins of St John the Baptist in St John’s Wood.
Abbotsford. The name given by Sir Walter Scott to his residence on the banks of the Tweed, from the poetical assumption that the abbots of Melrose must have forded the stream hereabouts in olden times.
A.B.C. Girls. Waitresses at the depots of the Aerated Bread Company Limited.
Aberdeen. From the Celtic aber, estuary, confluence; the town at the mouth of the Dee.
Abernethy Biscuits. From the name of the baker who introduced them. Their connection with Dr Abernethy was repudiated by the great physician himself.
Aberystwith. The town at the mouth of the Ystwith.
Abigail. The generic name for a waiting-maid, in allusion to the handmaid who introduced herself to David (1 Sam. xxv. 23). Its popularity during the second half of the seventeenth century may be accounted for 2by the fact that the maiden name of Mrs Masham, the waiting-woman of Queen Anne, was Abigail Hill.
Abingdon. A corruption of Abbendon, the town of abbeys, being a place famed for religious houses far back in Anglo-Saxon days.
Abingdon Street. From the ancient town residence of the Earls of Abingdon.
Abney Park. From Abney House, now a Conservative Club, the residence of Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor of London. Dr Isaac Watts passed away at Abney House in 1748.
Abode of Love. See “Agapemonites.”
Abolitionists. The party sworn to the total and immediate abolition of slavery in the United States.
Above Board. Open, not playing an underhanded game. The owners of the gaming-tables on a race-course unsuspectedly regulated the issue of the spinning hand on the board by means of a treadle.
Abraham Newlands. Bank of England notes, so called from the signature they bore early in the last century.
Absinthe. From the Greek apsnithion, wormwood.
Absquatulate. A Far-West Americanism. A squatter who suddenly left his claim was said to have absquatulated.
Abyssinia. The country of the Abassins, or “mixed races.”
Academy. From the garden of Academus, where Plato taught his disciples; called on this account the Academics, or Academic School of Philosophy.
According to Cocker. Strictly correct. After Edward Cocker of Paul’s Chain, who published a most popular arithmetic.
According to Gunter. An expression much used in America for anything done properly and systematically. The allusion is to Edmund Gunter, the celebrated mathematician, who invented a chain and scale for measuring.
3Achilles Tendon. The tendon reaching from the calf of the leg to the heel. See “Heel of Achilles.”
Acknowledge the Corn. An Americanism of extremely popular application. Its origin is thus given by The Pittsburg Commercial Advertiser: “Some years ago a raw customer from the upper country determined to try his fortune at New Orleans. Accordingly he provided himself with two flat boats–one laden with corn and the other with potatoes–and down the river he went. The night after his arrival he went up town to a gambling-house. Of course, he commenced betting, and, his luck proving unfortunate, he lost. When his money was gone he bet his ‘truck’; and the corn and potatoes followed the money. At last, when evidently cleaned out, he returned to his boats at the wharf, where the evidences of a new misfortune presented themselves. Through some accident or other the flat boat containing the corn was sunk, and a total loss. Consoling himself as well as he could he went to sleep, dreaming of gamblers, potatoes, and corn. It was scarcely sunrise, however, when he was disturbed by the ‘child of chance,’ who had arrived to take possession of the two boats as his winnings. Slowly awakening from his sleep, our hero, rubbing his eyes and looking the man in the face, replied: ‘Stranger, I acknowledge the corn–take ’em; but the potatoes you can’t have, by thunder!’ Since that time it has become customary for a man who frankly admits having been hoaxed or beaten to say: ‘I acknowledge the corn.’”
Acropolis. From the Greek akros, highest, and polis, city. A citadel or fortress overlooking a city, as at Athens.
Acton. Anglo-Saxon for “Oak Town,” built in the neighbourhood of a great oak forest.
Actors’ Day. A day–the third Thursday in October–set apart for a performance in all the theatres of the United Kingdom in aid of the various theatrical charities–actors being pledged to give their services, dramatic authors to forego their fees, and managers to devote the entire receipts to the good cause.
4Adam Street. After the Brothers Adam, who built the streets collectively styled the “Adelphi.”
Adam’s Needle. A plant so called from its long, pointed leaves. Whether he and his spouse strung their aprons together by its means is doubtful.
Adam’s Wine. Drinking water, because Adam knew not the fermented juice of the grape.
Ada Rehan. This American actress is of Irish extraction, her name being “Regan,” but on entering the dramatic profession she changed it to “Rehan.”
Addison of the North. The literary sobriquet of Henry Fielding, author of “The Man of Feeling,” on account of the purity and elegance of his style.
Addison Road. After the great English essayist, who, having married the Dowager Countess of Warwick, lived and died at Holland House, Kensington.
Addled Parliament. A memorable session during the reign of James I., which, though it lasted from 5th April 1614 to 7th June 1615, passed no new measure whatever.
Adelaide. The capital of South Australia, an island, and also a noted hostelry on Haverstock Hill, named in honour of the consort of William IV.
Adelphi. The collective name for several streets and a noble terrace on the south side of the Strand, built by the Brothers Adam. Adelphi is Greek for “brothers.”
Adieu. Originally a popular commendation to the care of God–A Dieu!
Adonis. The name given to a beautiful youth, and also to the anemone, after Adonis, who was beloved by Venus. The flower is said to have sprung from his blood when he was gored to death by a wild boar in the chase.
Admirable Crichton. The designation of one accomplished in all the arts. “Admirable” Crichton was a noted Scottish prodigy of the sixteenth century.
Admiral. From the Arabic emir-el-bahr, Lord of the Sea.
Adrianople. The city founded by the Emperor Hadrian.
5Adriatic Sea. After the Emperor Hadrian.
Adullamites. Those who in 1866 seceded from the Reform Party. John Bright said they had retired to the Cave of Adullam, there to gather around them all the discontented. The allusion was to David’s flight from Saul (1. Sam. xxii. 1, 2).
Ad valorem. A Customs term for duties levied according to the stated value of goods imported. The duty on various qualities of the same goods may therefore differ.
Ædiles. Civil officers of Rome who had the care of the streets and ædes, or public buildings.
Æolian Harp. A lute placed in the trees for the zephyrs to play upon, so called after Æolus, the god of the winds.
Æsculapius. The generic term for a physician, after the one of this name mentioned by Homer, who was afterwards deified in the Greek mythology.
Afghanistan. Pursuant to the Persian stan, the country of the Afghans.
Africa. From the Phœnician afer, a black man, and the Sanskrit ac, earth, land, country. This great continent is the natural home of the blacks–the negroes of North America and the West Indian Islands being descended from the slaves carried thither from the west coast of Africa since the time of the original slave trader, Sir John Hawkins, in 1562.
Agapæ. Love feasts of the Romans, from the Greek agape, love.
Agapemonites. An old term which has newly come into vogue in our day. Agapemone is Greek for “abode of love.” There was such a retreat early in the nineteenth century at Charlynch, Somerset, the seat of the Agapemonists or Agapemonites, followers of Henry James Prince, an ex-Churchman.
Agar Street. After William Agar, a wealthy lawyer, who resided in it. See “Agar Town.”
6Agar Town. A now vanished district covered by St Pancras Railway Station, the lease of which was acquired by William Agar in 1840 for building purposes.
Agate. From Achates, the Greek name of a Sicilian river, in the bed of which this gem was found in abundance.
Agnostic. From the Greek a, without, and gnomi, to know. One who professes a belief only in what he knows or can discover for himself. Literally a “know-nothing.”
Agony Column. At first this newspaper column was confined to distressful inquiries for missing relatives and friends. Latterly it has become a tacit means of communication between persons who, for various reasons, cannot exchange letters sent through the post.
Ahoy. From Aoi, the battle cry of the Norsemen as they ran their galleys upon the enemy.
Aigrette. A French word, denoting the tall white plume of a heron. From a feather head-dress the term has now come to be applied to an ornament of gems worn by a lady on the crown of her head when in full evening dress.
Air of a Gentleman. In this sense the word “air” is synonymous with “manner” and “deportment.”
Air Street. When laid out and built upon in 1659 this was the most westerly street in London. The allusion to fresh air is obvious.
Aix-la-Chapelle. The Aquis Granum of the Romans, famous for its baths. Hence the German name Aachen, expressive of many springs. The place is also noted for its many churches; the cathedral, which grew out of the original chapel, contains the shrine of Charlemagne.
Alabama. Indian for “here we rest.”
A la Guillotine. The name given in France after the Revolution to the fashion of wearing the hair very short, in memory of friends and relatives who had fallen victims to the “Guillotine.”
7A la Watteau. The name given to a stage ballet in which the pretty rustic costumes are after the style of those ever present in the pastoral paintings of Antoine Watteau, the famous French artist. Reproductions of his pictures frequently also figure on expensive furniture–screens in particular.
Albania. From the Latin albus, white, “the country of snowy mountain ranges.”
Albany. A commodious range of bachelor chambers in Piccadilly, at one time the residence of Frederick, son of George III., created Duke of York and Albany.
Albany Street. After the Duke of York and Albany, temp. George III.
Albemarle Street. In the West End street of this name resided Christopher Monk, second Duke of Albemarle. The other, in Clerkenwell, was built upon when General Monk, the first Duke of Albemarle, was at the zenith of his popularity.
Albert. After the Prince Consort, to whom the jewellers of Birmingham presented a short gold watch-chain on the occasion of his visit to that city in 1849.
Albert Gate. After Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria. The Albert Bridge, Albert Memorial, and Royal Albert Hall likewise perpetuate his name.
Albigensis. Christian heretics of the twelfth century, drawn from the Albigeois, whose capital was Albi, in Languedoc.
Albion. The name given to Britain by the Romans on account of its (albus) white cliffs, as approached from the sea.
Alcantara. From the Arabic Al-kantarah, “the bridge,” referring to the fine stone bridge built by Trajan.
Alcove. From the Arabic El-kauf through the Spanish alcoba, a tent.
Aldermanbury. The bury or enclosed place in which stood the first Guildhall prior to the reign of Henry IV.
Alderney. In French Aurigny, from the Latin Aurinia, Isle of Light.
8Aldersgate Street. From the ancient city gate near which grew several fine alder-trees.
Aldgate. From the Auld Gate of Saxon London, the earliest of the city gates.
Aldine Editions. Early editions of the classics produced and given to the world by Aldo Manuzio, the celebrated printer of Venice, in the sixteenth century.
Aldwych. An old name for a magnificent new thoroughfare which has taken the place of quaint, out-of-date Wych Street, anciently described as Auld Wych, leading as it did to the old village, whose parish church was that of St Giles’s in the Fields.
Ale-stake. The pole anciently set up in front of an alehouse. This was at first surmounted by a bush, in imitation of a wine bush; later it became exchanged for a sign.
Ale-wife. An old name for the wife of a tavern keeper.
Alexandra Limp. When our present Queen, as Princess of Wales, having sustained an injury to her knee, was walking lame, it became the fashion to imitate her gait.
Alexandria. The city founded by Alexander the Great, B.C. 332.
Aleutian Islands. From the Russian aleut, “bald rock.”
Alfreton. Properly Alfred’s Town, identified with Alfred the Great.
Algiers. From the Arabic Al Jezair, “the peninsula.”
Alhambra. From the Arabic Kal-at-al-hamra, “the red castle.”
Alibi. Latin for “elsewhere.”
A Little too Previous. An Americanism for being in too great a hurry; rushing at conclusions; saying or doing a thing without sufficient warranty.
All Abroad. Provincial for scattered wits; “all over the place.”
Allahabad. Arabic and Persian for “City of God.”
9All Bosh. The introduction of the term “Bosh” into our vocabulary must be accredited to James Morier, in whose Oriental romances, “The Adventures of Haiji Baba of Ispahan” and “Ayesha,” it frequently appears. Bosh is Persian and Turkish, signifying rubbish, nonsense, silly talk.
Alleghany. A corruption of Alligewi, the name of an Indian tribe.
Allemanni. Teutonic for “All Men”; expressing a confederacy.
All-fired. An Americanism for “great”–e.g. “He came in an all-fired hurry.”
All-hallowe’en. The vigil of “All-hallows’ Day.”
All-hallows’-Barking. This ancient church, dedicated to All the Saints, belonged to the Abbey at Barking, Essex.
All-hallows’ Day. The old-time designation of All Saints’ Day, from Anglo-Saxon halig, holy.
All Moonshine. As the light of the moon is reflected from the sun, so an incredible statement received at second hand is said to be “all moonshine.”
All my Eye and Betty Martin. A corruption of Ah mihi, beate Martine (Woe to me, Blessed Martin), formerly used by beggars in Italy to invoke their patron saint. The story goes that a sailor who wandered into a church in that country, hearing these words, afterwards told his companions that all he could make out from the service was: “All my eye and Betty Martin.”
All Saints’ Bay. Discovered by Amerigo Vespucci on the Feast of All Saints, 1503.
All Saints’ Day. The day set apart by the Church for the invocation of the whole body of canonised saints.
All Serena. From the Spanish serena, used by sentinels as a countersign for “All’s well.”
All Souls’ College. Founded at Oxford by Henry Chichely, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the perpetual offering up of prayers on behalf of the souls of those who fell in the wars of Henry V. in France.
10All Souls’ Day. The day of special prayers for the liberation of the suffering souls in Purgatory. The French people make it a point of duty to visit the graves of their deceased relatives on this day.
All the Go. Originally a drapers’ phrase, meaning that a certain line of goods is “going” fast and will soon be gone. A publisher, too, thinks a book should “go” with the reading public.
All There. An Americanism expressive of one who has all his wits about him.
Almack’s. Fashionable assembly-rooms in King Street, St James’s, opened 12th February 1765 by MacCall, a Scotsman, who inverted his name to remove all suspicion of his origin. The next proprietor called them Willis’s Rooms, after himself. In 1890 they were converted into a restaurant.
Almighty Dollar. For this expression we are indebted to Washington Irving, who in his sketch of “The Creole Village” (1837) spoke of it as “the great object of universal devotion throughout our land.”
Alnwick. The wick, or village, on the Alne.
Alpaca. Cloth made from the wool of the Peruvian sheep of the same name, akin to the llama.
Alps. From the Latin albus, white, the mountains eternally capped with snow.
Alsace. Teutonic for “the other seat,” being the abode of their own people west of the Rhine. With the Celtic suffix the name became “Alsatia.”
Alsatia. Anciently the district of Whitefriars, which, being a sanctuary for law-breakers, received the name of the Rhine province notorious as the common refuge of the disaffected.
Alter Ego. Expresses the Latin for “my other self” or “double.”
Amadeus. The family name of the House of Savoy, from its motto: “Love God.”
11Amain. A nautical phrase meaning suddenly, at once–e.g. “Strike amain,” “Lower amain.”
Amateur Casual. The literary sobriquet of Mr James Greenwood, who in 1866 spent a night in Lambeth Workhouse, and wrote his experiences in The Pall Mall Gazette. Within the last few months he has undertaken a similar up-to-date commission for The Tribune.
Amati. A violin of rare excellence made by Andrea Amati of Cremona.
Amazon. The Spaniards first called this river the Orellana, in honour of their countryman who navigated it, but after hearing accounts of the fighting women on its banks they gave it the name of the fabled African tribe of warlike women who cut or burnt off the right breast in order the better to steady the bow. The word Amazon is Greek, from a, without, and maza, breast.
Ambrosian Chant. Ascribed to St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan in the fourth century.
Ambuscade. From the Italian imboscata, concealed in a wood.
Amen. Hebrew for “Yea,” “Truly,” “So be it.”
Amen Corner. Old Stow tells us this lane was suddenly stopped up in his time, so that people said “Amen” on finding they had to turn back again. There may be something in this; but the greater likelihood is that it was here where the monks finished the recital of the Paternoster before they took up the Ave Maria while on their way in solemn procession to St Paul’s at the great Church festivals.
America. After Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine adventurer, who chanced to be at Seville when Columbus was preparing for his second voyage to the West. With Ojeda, Vespucci embarked upon an independent expedition. Subsequently he made further voyages in Portuguese ships, and discovered the Bay of All Saints. His remaining days were spent in the service of the 12King of Spain, preparing charts and prescribed routes to the New World. Although these official publications bore his signature, Vespucci never claimed to have discovered the great Western Continent. A wonderful narrative of his voyages, however, purporting to have been written by Vespucci, found its way into the hands of Martin Waldseemuller of Freiburg, Baden. This he translated, and caused it to be published by a bookseller at St Die in Lorraine in 1507. In his preface to the work Waldseemuller suggested that the newly discovered country should be called America, after the author, who had visited it. Hence the name really originated in Germany.
American Indians. See “Indians.”
Americanism. A coined word or phrase in the United States which, freely repeated, tickles the popular ear and soon becomes engrafted upon the national vocabulary. Many Americanisms are now as common in England as in the land of their origin. The term may also be applied to such American deviations from British custom, as the substitution of “Depot” for Railway Station, “News-stand” for Bookstall, “On the street” for “In the street,” etc. etc.
Amiens. From the Latin ambiens, surrounded by water. Three branches of the River Somme run through the city.
Ammonites. The descendants of Ben-ammi, the son of Lot (Gen. xxix. 38).
Among the Gods. At the time when the expression first came into use, the ceiling of Drury Lane Theatre was embellished with classical deities disporting themselves among the clouds in an azure sky.
Among the Missing. An Americanism for an absentee. When a person wishes to be “out” to a visitor, he tells the servant that he prefers to be “among the missing.”
Amorica. The country of the Armorici, “dwellers on the sea.”
Ampthill Square. From Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire, one 13of the seats of the ground landlord, the Duke of Bedford.
Amsterdam. The town built on the dam of the Amstel.
Amwell Street. After one of the wells in Hertfordshire, whose waters were drawn upon by Sir Hugh Myddleton for the New River.
Anabaptists. Conformably to the Greek ana, twice, the designation of the original Baptists, who, having been baptised at birth, went through the ceremony a second time on reaching maturity.
Anacreon Moore. The sobriquet of Thomas Moore, who translated the Odes of Anacreon, and constructed his own verses on the same classic model.
Anatolia. The Turkish and Greek description of Asia Minor, from anatolie, east–i.e. of Constantinople.
Ancient. Iago is described as Othello’s “ancient.” Even in Shakespeare’s day this word was a corruption of ensign, or standard-bearer.
Ancient Lights. After having enjoyed the light of a window on his premises for twenty years uninterruptedly a person may, subject to displaying the notice “ancient lights,” prevent that light from being intercepted by any other building.
Ancona. From the Greek agkon, elbow, relative to its position on an angle of the coast.
Andalusia. Properly Vandalusia, the country of the Vandals.
Andes. From the Peruvian anta, copper.
Andrea Ferrara. A world-famous Italian sword blade made by Andrea of the city of Ferrara.
Angel. An inn sign, originally the “Angel and Salutation,” depicting the visit of the angel who announced to the Virgin that she was to be the mother of the Redeemer.
Angelic Doctor. One of the sobriquets of St Thomas Aquinas, universally regarded as “The Angel of the Schools.” He is said also to have written much on the nature of angels.
14Anglesea. Properly Anglesey, expressing, from the point of view of the Celtic inhabitants of Wales, the ey, or island of the Angles.
Anglesea Morris. After William Morris, who caught this species of fish off the Isle of Anglesea.
Angola. Wool brought from Angola on the West Coast of Africa.
Angostura Bitters. Prepared from the celebrated medicinal bark discovered by Capuchin monks in the Venezuelan city Angostura, which name signifies a strait.
Anguilla Island. West Indian for “Little Snake,” from its shape.
Anisette. A cordial prepared from aniseed.
Annunciator. An Americanism for bell or gong.
Antarctic Ocean. That situate anti, opposite to, the Arctic Ocean.
Antelope State. Nebraska, from the number of antelopes found there.
Anthem. A hymn sung by the entire congregation, as distinguished from Antiphone, which term expresses a series of choral responses.
Antigua. Expresses the Spanish for an ancient city.
Antwerp. In French Anvers, the Antverpia of the Romans.
Any. An Americanism for “at all”–e.g. “It didn’t trouble me any.”
Apache State. Arizona, the scene of many bloodthirsty encounters with the wild Apaches.
Apennines. The Pennine Alps, from the Celtic ben, which is the same as the Welsh pen, summit or mountain head.
Apollinaris Water. Brought from the famous mineral spring in the valley of the Ahor of the Rhine province. The ruins of a temple of Apollo gave the name to the spot.
Apothecary. The old name for a dispenser of medicines. The Greek word really implies a storehouse or depository; 15it is compounded out of apo, to put away, and theke, chest, box. Differing from modern chemists and druggists, licentiates of the Apothecaries’ Company may visit the sick and prescribe for them, as well as make up physicians’ prescriptions.
Appian Way. The construction of this famous road leading from Rome to Capua was commenced by Appius Claudius.
Apostle of Temperance. Father Mathew, the inveterate enemy of tipplers in the Emerald Isle of his time.
Apostles’ Creed. The whole summary of Christian Faith, according to the Apostles.
Apostolic Fathers. Those early doctors of the Church who, living in the first century after Christ, received their teaching from His disciples, if they did not actually enjoy personal communion with the Apostles.
Apricot. From the Latin præcoqus, early ripe.
April. The month in which the buds begin to shoot, from aperio, to open.
April Fish. The French equivalent of “April Fool,” since, like a fish, the unsuspecting victim of a practical joke is easily caught.
April Fool. The custom of April Fooling originated in France, which country took the lead in shifting the New Year from what is now Lady Day to the 1st of January. This occurred in 1564. From the earliest periods of history people bestowed gifts upon their neighbours at the New Year, but as the 25th of March so often fell in Holy Week, even on Good Friday itself, the Church uniformly postponed the celebration of the New Year until the octave–viz. the 1st of April. When, therefore, New Year’s Day had been transferred to the 1st of January, people paid mock visits to their friends on the 1st of April with the object of fooling them into the belief that matters remained as they were. The like custom was introduced into England on the alteration of our calendar in 1762. April Fools’ Day is supposed to be over at 16twelve o’clock, since the New Year’s visitation and bestowal of gifts always took place before noon.
Apsley House. The residence of the Duke of Wellington, built by Henry Apsley, Lord Chancellor, afterwards Lord Bathurst.
Aquarians. A Christian sect of the fourth century who substituted water for wine in the Communion.
Aqua Tofana. A colourless poison invented by a Sicilian woman named Tofana towards the close of the seventeenth century. So extensive was her secret traffic with this liquid among young married women who were anxious to rid themselves of their husbands that when, at a great age, Tofana was dragged from the convent where she had taken refuge, and executed, she admitted to having caused the deaths of 600 persons.
Arabia. The country of the Arabs, or “men of the desert.”
Arbor Day. A day set apart in America for planting trees.
Arbroath. Originally Aberbrothockwick, the village at the mouth of the Brothock.
Arcadian. An ideal farmer or a rustic scene; after the Arcadians, who were essentially a pastoral race.
Arcadian Poetry. Pastoral poetry, in allusion to the Arcadians.
Archangel. A town in Russia which derived its name from a great monastery of St Michael the Archangel.
Archer-fish. A fish endowed with the power of shooting water at insects, which thus become an easy prey.
Archway Road. Leads to the modern successor of the famous Highgate Archway opened in 1813.
Arctic Ocean. From the Greek arktos, bear, having reference to the great northern constellation.
Ardennes. The great forest on the heights.
Argand Lamp. After its inventor, Aimé Argand.
Argentine Republic. The modern name of Argentina, through which runs the La Plata, or River of Silver. 17While preserving their original designation of the river, the Spaniards Latinised that of the country.
Argosy. A vessel laden with rich merchandise, from the Argo, in which Jason and his fellow-adventurers, the Argonauts, sailed to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece, B.C. 1263.
Argyll. From Garra Ghaidhael, the country of the West Gaels.
Argyll Street. From the old town mansion of the Dukes of Argyll. The celebrated Argyll Rooms, now the Trocadero Restaurant, were a far cry from the other extreme of Regent Street.
Argus-eyed. After the fabled Argus, who had a hundred eyes.
Arians. The followers of the first Christian heretic, Arius, a presbyter of the Church of Alexandria in the fourth century.
Arizona. Indian for “sand-hills.”
Arkansas. The same as Kansas, “smoky water,” with the French suffix arc, a bow.
Arkansas Toothpick. The Far-West designation of a “Bowie Knife,” the blade of which, as used by the people of this state, shuts up into the handle.
Arlington Street. From the town mansion of Henry Bennett, Earl of Arlington.
Arminians. The anti-Calvinists of Holland, led by James Harmensen under the Latinised name of Jacobus Arminius.
Arras. Mediæval tapestry, for the production of which the town of Arras, in the French Netherlands, was famous.
Arrowroot. So called because the Indians of tropical America regarded the root of the plant as efficacious against arrow wounds.
Artemus Ward. The pseudonym of Charles Farrar Browne, the American humorous lecturer. This was, 18however, the actual name of an eccentric showman whom he had encountered on his travels.
Artesian Well. From Artois, where such wells were first bored.
Arthur’s Seat. Said to have derived its name from King Arthur, but how his association with the city of Edinburgh arose no man can tell.
Artichoke. From the Arabic ardischauki, earth thorn.
Artillery Lane. Stands on part of the site of the practising ground of the London Artillery Company, temp. Henry VIII., and later of the Tower Gunners, when all the land towards the north hereabouts was open fields.
Arundel. The dale of the River Arun.
Arundel Street. That in the Strand from the town mansion and extensive grounds of the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk and Earls of Arundel and Surrey. That in the Haymarket after the ground landlord, Lord Arundel of Wardour.
Ascension Island. Discovered by the Portuguese on the Feast of the Ascension, 1501.
As Cross as Two Sticks. Two sticks held together in the centre like the letter X form a cross.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The home among the ash-trees of the De La Zouches. By expresses the Anglo-Saxon for a dwelling.
Asia. From the Sanskrit Ushas, “land of the dawn.” By the Western nations Asiatics were anciently styled “the people of the sun.”
Asia Minor. Lesser Asia, called by the Turks and Greeks “Anatolia.”
Aspasia. A flower named after Aspasia of Miletus, the mistress of Pericles.
As Poor as a Church Mouse. A church is one of the very few buildings that contain neither kitchen nor larder. Church mice, therefore, have a hungry time of it.
19As Rich as a Jew. The Jews in England were the first usurers, bankers, and bill-brokers. They only had the command of ready money, the wealth of the nobility consisting in the possession of broad lands.
Assumptionists. A modern religious Order, founded fifty years ago, whose full title is the Augustinians of the Assumption.
Astoria. From the fur-trading station established in 1811 by John Jacob Astor of New York.
Astrakhan. Fur brought from Astrakhan, which name signifies the country or district ruled by a khan of the Tartar or Mogul Empire.
Asturia. From the Basque asta, rock, and ura, water, denoting a region of mountains and estuaries.
Atlantic Ocean. Called by the Greeks Atlantikos pelagos, from the Isle of Atlantis, imagined by Homer and Plato to be beyond the Strait of Gibraltar.
Athanasian Creed. Opinions affecting the doctrine of the Trinity, ascribed to St Athanasius of Alexandria, adopted and formally compiled by St Hilary, Bishop of Arles in the fifth century.
Athens. From the Temple of Athene, or Minerva, the tutelary goddess of the city.
Athens of America. The city of Boston, considered the chief seat of learning in the New World.
Athens of the South. Nashville, Tennessee, on account of the number of its scholastic institutions.
Athelney. The “Royal Island” or “Isle of the Nobles,” where Alfred the Great founded a Benedictine monastery.
Atlas. Since the publication of “Mercator’s Projections,” with the figure of Atlas bearing the globe on his shoulders as a frontispiece, in 1560, all books of maps have received this name.
At Loggerheads. See “Loggerhead.”
Auburn. From the Anglo-Saxon Auld Bourne, old bourn, or stream.
20Auckland. The capital of New Zealand, named in honour of Lord Auckland, a famous politician of his time, who became Governor-General of India, and after his retirement was elected President of the Asiatic Society. His ancestor, the first Lord Auckland, took his title from Auckland in Durham, which name was originally Oakland.
Audley Street (North and South). Perpetuate the memory of Hugh Audley, a barrister of the Middle Temple, whose landed estates hereabouts were computed at his death in 1662 to be worth a million of money.
Augsburg Confession. The Lutheran Confession of faith drawn up by Melancthon, and presented by Martin Luther to Charles V. during the sitting of the German Diet at Augsburg in 1530.
August. After Augustus Cæsar, who regarded this as his lucky month. Its original name was Sextilis, the sixth month of the Roman year.
Augustan Age. The best literary age of any country, because Rome in the time of Augustus Cæsar produced the finest examples of Latin literature.
Augustin Friars. The religious Order said to have been founded by St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. See “Austin Friars.”
Auld Reekie. The name given to the old part of Edinburgh, from the cloud of reek or smoke which usually caps it.
Austin Friars. Part of the site of the priory of the Augustin Friars, whose church still remains.
Australasia. Southern Asia.
Australia. From the Latin Australis, southern.
Austria. From Oesterreich, or Eastern Empire, as distinguished from the Western Empire founded by Charlemagne.
Autocar. The name first given to a motor car; incorrectly, however, since so far from being automatic such a 21one, like all mechanically propelled vehicles, requires a guiding intelligence.
Autun. The Augustodunum, or Town of Augustus, of the Romans.
Auvergne. From the Auverni, who overran it in the time of the Cæsars.
Avoca. Gaelic for “the meeting of the waters.”
Ave Maria Lane. Where the monks of old chanted the “Ave Maria” on their way to St Paul’s. See “Amen Corner.”
Avon. From Arfon, the Celtic for river or stream, which enters into many place-names.
Axminster. The monastery town on the Axe.
Ayah. Hindustani for waiting-woman or nurse.
Aye-Vye. An animal found in Madagascar, so called from its cry.
Aylesbury Street. From the town house and garden of the Earls of Aylesbury.
Azores. The Portuguese named this group of islands Acores, the plural of acor, hawk, on account of the great number of hawks there.
Azov. A Russianised form of Asak, the name given to it by the Tartars.
B
Bacchanalia. Roman festivals in honour of Bacchus, the god of wine.
Bacchus Verses. Verses written in praise or dispraise of Bacchus, and affixed to the doors of the College at Eton on “Collop Monday.”
Bachelor Girl. One who lives in her own rooms, belongs to a woman’s club, and considers herself superior to what is called home influence–a distinctly modern creation.
Backgammon. From the Saxon Bac and gamen, “back-game,” because the pieces have at times to go back and be moved up afresh.
22Back a Man. To have full confidence in him. From backing or endorsing a bill on another’s behalf.
Badajoz. Called by the Moors Beledaix, “Land of Health.”
Bad Egg. A man who is commercially or morally unsound, and therefore fit only to be shunned.
Badger State. Wisconsin, from the name given to the early miners, who made for themselves winter habitations in the earth, like a badger.
Badminton. A drink of spiced claret, and also a game of tennis played with shuttlecocks instead of balls, introduced by the Duke of Beaufort at Badminton, his country seat.
Baffin’s Bay. After William Baffin, the pilot of an expedition sent out to explore this region in 1616.
Bagatelle. From the Italian bagetella, a conjurer’s trick.
Baggage. A term often applied to a woman, because the wives of soldiers taken on foreign service go with the stores and baggage generally. In the United States this word is an equivalent for the English “Luggage.”
Bagman. The old name for a commercial traveller, who carried his samples in a bag.
Bag o’ Nails. A popular corruption of the ancient inn sign, “The Bachannals,” referring to Pan and the Satyrs.
Bag o’ Tricks. In allusion to the large bag in which an itinerant conjurer carried his tricks.
Bakers’ Dozen. In olden times, when bread was sold in open market instead of shops, women took up the trade of selling bread from door to door. They received from the bakers thirteen loaves for the price of twelve, the odd one constituting their profit.
Baker Street. After Sir Edward Baker, a great friend of the Portmans of Dorsetshire, the ground landlords.
Bakshish. A Persian word for “gratuity.”
Balaklava. When settled by the Genoese, they gave it the name of Bella-chiava, or “Fair Haven.”
23Balearic Islands. From the Greek ballein, to throw, expresses the Island of Slingers.
Ball. A dancing party received this name primarily from the curious ancient Ball Play in Church by the Dean and choir boys of Naples during the “Feast of Fools” at Easter. While singing an antiphon the boys caught the ball thrown by the Dean as they danced around him. At private dancing parties the dancers always threw a ball at one another as, to the sound of their own voices, they whirled around in sets, the pastime consisting in loosening hands in time to catch it. Afterwards the ball was discarded, but the dance time received the name of a Ballad, from the Latin ballare, to dance.
Ballad. See “Ball.”
Ballet. Expresses the French diminutive of bal, a dance. See “Ball.”
Ball’s Pond. From an inn, the “Salutation,” kept by John Ball, whose dog and duck sports in a large pond attracted a great concourse of visitors in former days.
Balsover Street. From Balsover, Derbyshire, the seat of the Fitzroys, Dukes of Grafton, the ground landlords.
Baltic Sea. A sea of belts or straits. Bält is Norse for strait.
Baltimore. After Lord Baltimore, the founder of the neighbouring state of Maryland.
Baltimore Bird. Though found almost everywhere in the United States, it is said to have received its name from the correspondence of its colours with those distinguished in the arms of Lord Baltimore, the Governor of Maryland.
Bancroft Road. After Francis Bancroft, the founder of the Drapers’ Almshouses, in this road.
Bandana. The Hindu term for silk goods generally, but now applied to cotton pocket-handkerchiefs with white or yellow spots on a blue ground.
Bandy Words with You. From the old game of Bandy, in 24which the ball was struck or bandied to opposite sides.
Bangor. From Ban-choir, “The White Choir” of the Abbey, founded by St Cungall in the sixth century.
Banjo. Properly Bandore, from the Greek Pandoura, a stringed instrument named after Pan. The word was introduced into North America from Europe.
Banker Poet. Samuel Rogers, author of “The Pleasures of Memory,” who was a banker all his life.
Banshee. From the Gaelic bean sidhe, woman fairy.
Bantam. A species of fowl said to have been introduced to Europe from Bantam in Java.
Banting. After William Banting, a London cabinetmaker, who in 1863 reduced his superfluous fat by a dietic system peculiarly his own.
Bar. In old days, when a counter did not obtain, and drinking vessels had to be set down on the benches or barrel ends, a bar separated the frequenters of a tavern from the drawers or tapsters. Similarly, at the Courts of Law the Bar was a rail behind which a barrister or counsel had to plead his client’s cause.
Barbadoes. From the streamers of moss, resembling a beard, suspended from the tree branches.
Barbarians. The name universally applied by the Romans to wandering or warlike tribes who were unkempt and unshaven.
Barbarossa. The sobriquet of Frederick the First of Germany, on account of his red beard.
Barbary. The land of the Berbers, the Arabic description of the people of this region prior to the Saracen Conquest.
Barber. From the Latin barba, a beard.
Barber-surgeons. Hairdressers who, down to the sixteenth century, also practised “cupping” or blood-letting, a relic of which is the modern Barber’s Pole. The red and white stripes around the pole denoted the bandages, 25while in place of the gilt knob at the end there originally hung the basin affixed under the chin of the patient operated upon.
Barbican. That portion of the Roman wall round the city of London where there must have been a watch-tower looking towards the north. Barbacana is a Persian word for a watch-tower in connection with a fortified place.
Barcelona. Anciently Barcino, after Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal, who refounded the city.
Baring Island. Named by Captain Penny after Sir Francis Baring, first Lord of the Admiralty.
Barley Mow. An old sign for a tavern in connection with the Mow or house where the barley was stored for brewing. Mowe is Saxon for “heap.”
Barmecide’s Feast. An illusory banquet. From the story of the Barber’s Sixth Brother, in “The Arabian Nights.” Barmecide invited a starving wretch to a feast, but gave him nothing to eat.
Barnsbury. Anciently Berners’ Bury, the manor of which was held by Lady Berners, abbess of St Albans.
Barnstormer. A strolling actor. In the old days, away from the regular circuits, there were no provincial theatres or halls licensed for stage plays whatever. The consequence was a company of strolling players obtained permission to perform in a barn. Edmund Kean admitted, when in the zenith of his fame, that he had gained his experience “by barnstorming.”
Barrister. See “Bar.”
Barrow Road. This, with Barrow Hill Place, marks the site of a barrow or sepulchral mound of the Britons and Romans slain in battle.
Barry Cornwall. The anagrammatic pseudonym of Bryan Waller Procter, the poet.
Bar Tender. An Americanism for barman or barkeeper.
Bartholomew Close. The site of the ancient cloisters of St Bartholomew’s Priory, connected with the neighbouring church, which is the oldest in London.
26Bartholomew Fair. The famous fair which for centuries survived the mediæval mart that had given rise to it in the neighbouring street, still known as Cloth Fair. It was held on the Feast of St Bartholomew.
Barton Street. A street in Westminster built by Barton Booth, the eminent actor of Drury Lane Theatre.
Bashaw. Properly “Pashaw.” See “Pasha.”
Basinghall Street. From the mansion and grounds of the Basings, whose ancestor, Solomon Basing, was Lord Mayor of London in 1216.
Bassano. The better known, indeed to most people the only proper, name of the famous Italian artist, Jacopa da Ponte, who signed all his pictures “Il Bassano,” having been born at Bassano in the state of Venice.
Bass’s Straits. Discovered by Matthew Flinders. These straits were named by him after a young ship’s surgeon, who, with a crew of only six men, in a small vessel, accompanied him on the expedition.
Bath Chair. First introduced at Bath, the great health resort of a bygone day.
Bath Street. From a Bagnio, or Turkish Bath, established here in the seventeenth century.
Battersea. Anciently Patricesy, or St Peter’s-ey, the manor belonging to the abbey of St Peter’s, Westminster. The suffix ey implied not only an island, but also a creek.
Battle-born State. Nevada, because admitted into the American Union during the Civil War.
Battle Bridge Road. In this neighbourhood the Iceni, under Boadicea, sustained their total defeat at the hands of the Romans, A.D. 61.
Battle of all the Nations. The battle of Leipsic, 16th to 18th October 1813, so called because it effected the deliverance of Europe from the domination of Napoleon Buonaparte.
27Battle of the Giants. That of Marignano, in which 1200 Swiss Guards, allies of the Milanese, were defeated, 13th September 1515.
Battle of the Herrings. From the sortie of the Orleaners to cut off a convoy of salted herrings on its way to the English, besieging their city, 12th February 1429.
Battle of the Standard. From the high crucifix borne as a standard on a waggon by the English at Northallerton, 29th August 1138.
Battle of the Spurs. That of Guinnegate, 16th August 1513, when the French were utterly routed in consequence of a panic; they used their spurs instead of their weapons of defence.
Battle of the Spurs of Gold. From the enormous number of gold spurs picked up on the field after the defeat of the French knights at Courtray, 11th July 1302.
Bavaria. The country of the Boii, anciently styled Boiaria.
Baynard’s Castle. See “Bayswater.”
Bayonet. Not from the town of Bayonne, but because a Basque regiment in the district of Bayonnetta in 1647, surprised by the Spaniards, stuck their knives into the muzzles of their muskets, and, charging, drove off the enemy with great slaughter.
Bay State. Massachusetts, from the original denomination of this colony in the New England Commonwealth–viz. Massachusetts Bay.
Bayon State. Mississippi, from the French bayon, watercourse, touching its great river.
Bayswater. Originally described as “Baynard’s Watering,” being a manor built by Ralph Baynard, one of the favourites of William the Conqueror, the owner of Baynard’s Castle, in what is now Thames Street, destroyed in the Great Fire of London.
B. D. V. A tobacco advertisement which stands for “Best Dark Virginia.”
28Beak. The slang term for a magistrate, on account of the beag or gold collar that he wears.
Beak Street. This name has a sportive reference to the magistrate at the neighbouring police court in Great Marlborough Street.
Beanfeast. From the Bean-goose (so called from the similarity of the nail of its bill to a bean) which was formerly the invariable dinner dish.
Bear. Wherever this enters into the name of a tavern sign (with the single exception of that of “The Bear and Ragged Staff”) it denotes a house that had originally a bear garden attached to it.
Bear and Ragged Staff. A common inn sign in Warwickshire, from the heraldic device of Warwick the King Maker.
Bear Garden. This name at the corner of Sumner Street, Southwark, recalls the old Paris Garden, a famous bear-baiting establishment founded by Robert de Paris as far back in English history as the reign of Richard I. A “Bear Garden” is in our time synonymous with a place of resort for roughs or rowdies.
Bear State. Arkansas, from the Western description of the character of its people. “Does Arkansas abound with bears that it should be called the Bear State?” a Western man was once asked. “Yes, it does,” was the reply; “for I never knew a man from that state but he was a bar, and, in fact, the people are all barish to a degree.”
Bearward. The custodian of the bear at public and private bear-baiting gardens. Most English towns anciently retained a bearward. See “Congleton Bears.”
Beats a Philadelphia Lawyer. An American expression implying that the lawyers of Philadelphia are noted for shrewdness and learning.
Beauchamp Tower. After Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, whom Richard II. caused to be imprisoned here for inciting the barons to remove the King’s favourite, Sir Simon de Burley.
29Beauclerc. The surname of Henry I., on account of his accomplishments in an age when learning was rare.
Beckenham. The home in the vicinity of becks or brooks. The Saxon terminal en expresses the plural.
Bedad. An Irishman’s exclamation, derived from the English “Begad” or “By Gad.”
Bedford. From the Anglo-Saxon Bedican-ford, the protected ford over the Ouse.
Bedfordbury. The bury or enclosed land of the Duke of Bedford. Bedford Street and Bedford Square likewise point to the great ground landlord.
Bedlam. Short for Bethlehem Hospital, a “Lazar House” in South London which in 1815 was converted into an asylum for lunatics. See “Bethlehem.”
Bedouins. From the Arabic badawiy, “dwellers in the desert.”
Beech Street. Said to have been the property of Nicholas de la Beech, Lieutenant of the Tower, temp. Edward III.
Beefeaters. Although it has been proved that the word Buffetier cannot be met with in any old book, the Yeomen of the Guard instituted by Henry VII. certainly waited at the royal table, and since this monarch was largely imbued with French manners, his personal attendants must after all have received their nickname from the Buffet, or sideboard.
Beer Bible. From the words “the beer” in place of “strong drink” (Isaiah xxiv. 9).
Before the Mast. The for’ard part of a ship, where, in the forecastle, the sailors have their quarters. Hence a common seaman is said to “Serve before the Mast.”
Begad. See “By Gad.”
Begorra. An Irish form of the English corrupted oath Begad or “By Gad.”
Beguines. An order of nuns in France, from the French beguin, a linen cap. These nuns are distinguished by their peculiar head covering.
30Begum. A lady of high rank in the East, a princess in India, or the wife of a Turkish beg (generally corrupted into bey) or Governor.
Beldame. From the French Belle-dame, “fine lady.” The meaning has now been corrupted from a lady entitled to the utmost respect on account of age or position to an ugly old woman.
Belgium. From the Belgæ, the name given by Cæsar to the warlike people who overran this portion of Gaul.
Belgravia. The fashionable district of which Belgrave Square is the centre, after one of the titles of the Duke of Westminster, the ground landlord.
Bell. A tavern sign, originally denoting a haunt for the lovers of sport, where a silver bell constituted the prize.
Bell, Book, and Candle. The instruments used by the Church in carrying out a sentence of excommunication. The bell apprised all good Christians of what was about to take place, the dread sentence was read out of the book, while the blowing out of the candle symbolised the spiritual darkness in which the excommunicated person would in future abide.
Belleisle. French for “beautiful isle.”
Beloochistan. Pursuant to the Persian stan, the country of the Belooches.
Below Par. Not up to the mark in point of health. The allusion is to Government stock not worth its nominal £100 value.
Belvedere. A public-house sign, derived from the Italian word for a pavilion built on a house-top commanding a fine prospect.
Ben. Theatrical slang for “benefit.”
Bench. The primitive seat of judges and magistrates before the modern throne-like chair was introduced. Barristers of the Inns of Court are styled “Benchers” from the wooden seats formerly provided for them.
Benedict. A confirmed bachelor, after St Benedict, who 31unceasingly preached the virtues of celibacy. Also a newly-married man who, like Benedick in Much ado about Nothing, after having long forsworn marriage, at length succumbed to the grand passion.
Benedictine. A liqueur made at the Benedictine monastery at Fécamp.
Benedictines. The monastic Order founded by St Benedict in the sixth century.
Bengal Tigers. The Leicester Regiment, which as the old 17th Foot rendered good service in India at the commencement of the last century, and received a royal tiger as a badge.
Bennett Street. From the town mansion of Henry Bennett, Earl of Arlington.
Bentinck Street. After William Bentinck, second Duke of Portland, the ground landlord.
Bergen. From the Danish bierg, mountain, the port nestling at the foot of high hills.
Berkeley Square. The whole district hereabouts comprised the land of Lord Berkeley of Stratton, one of the officers of Charles I.
Berkeley Street (Upper and Lower). After Edward Berkeley Portman, the ground landlord. There is a Berkeley Street too in Clerkenwell, on the site of which stood the residence of Sir Maurice Berkeley, the standard-bearer of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth.
Berkshire. The Beoric, or “forest shire,” of the Saxons.
Berlin. From the Slavonic Berle, denoting its situation in the midst of a sandy plain.
Bermondsey. The ey, or creek land, belonging to the Saxon lord Beomund.
Bermuda Islands. After Juan Bermudas, who discovered them in 1522.
Bernardine Hospice. This noble institution on the Alpine heights was not founded by St Bernard, nor has it ever 32been served by the monks of his Order. It takes its name from Bernard de Menthon, a wealthy Savoyard, who in 962 established this house of refuge for the pilgrims crossing the Alps on their way to the Holy Land. The monks who serve the Hospice are Augustinians.
Bernardines. The monastic Order founded by St Bernard in 1115.
Berne. From the German Bären, which expresses the plural for bear. The figure of a bear is conspicuous on the public buildings, fountains, etc.
Berners Street. After Lady Berners, the original owner of the land hereabouts.
Best Man at a Wedding. A survival of feudal times, when the particular friends of the “Bridegroom” undertook to frustrate the designs of a rival sworn to carry off the bride before the nuptials could take place. In Sweden weddings formerly took place under cover of night. Behind the high altar of the ancient church at Husaby, in Gothland, a collection of long lances, with sockets for torches, may yet be seen. These were served out to the groomsmen on such occasions, both for defence and illumination. These groomsmen were the bravest and best who could be found to volunteer their services.
Bethlehem. Hebrew for “house of bread.” Hence Bethlehem Hospital, the original name for a lazar or poor house.
Bethnal Green. Anciently Bednal Green, but corrupted from the family name of the Bathons, who resided here, temp. Edward I.
Bevis Marks. Properly Bury’s Marks, from the posts to define the limits of the ground belonging to the town house of the Abbots of Bury.
Bideford Postman. The sobriquet of Edward Capern, the poet, who was a letter-carrier at Bideford in Devon.
Big Ben. After Sir Benjamin Hall, Bart., M.P., one of the designers of the New Houses of Parliament, and Chief Commissioner of Works.
33Big Bend State. Tennessee, which name expresses the Indian for “river of the great bend.”
Bilbo. The old name for a Spanish sword blade made at Bilboa.
Bilboes. The irons with which mutinous sailors are manacled together. From Bilboa, Spain, their place of origin.
Bilker. A corruption of Balker, one who balks or outwits another. In our day one hears mostly of the “Cab bilker”; formerly the “Tavern bilker” was an equally reprehensible character.
Billingsgate. After Belin, a Saxon lord, who had a residence beside the old Roman water-gate on the north bank of the Thames.
Billiter Street. A corruption of Belzettar, the name of the first builder on the land hereabouts.
Billycock. The slang term for a “bowler” hat always worn by William Coke at the Holkham shooting parties.
Bingham’s Dandies. One of the nicknames of the 17th Lancers, after their Colonel and their smart uniforms.
Bioscope. Moving or living pictures thrown on a screen, so called from the Greek bios, life, and skopein, to view.
Birchin Lane. Properly Birchover Lane, after the name of the builder.
Birdcage Walk. From the Royal Aviary of the Restoration, located along the south wall of St James’s Park.
Bird of Passage. A hotel phrase applied to a guest who arrives at stated seasons.
Bird’s Eye Tobacco. So called from the oval shape of the stalks when cut up with the leaf.
Birkbeck Institute. The premier Mechanics’ Institute, established by Dr Birkbeck in 1824.
Birmingham. Called Bremenium by the Romans and Birmingeham in Domesday Book. This being so, it cannot be corrupted from “Broom-place town,” as some authors say.
34Birrell. To write, speak, or do anything after the manner of Mr Augustine Birrell, M.P., President of the Board of Education.
Birrelligion. A word coined by Dr Casterelli, Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, who, speaking on Mr Birrell’s New Education Bill, said it was not one exactly of irreligion, but of Birrelligion, acceptable to no party or denomination.
Bishopsgate Street. From the ancient city gate rebuilt by Bishop Irkenwald, the son of King Offa, and repaired by Bishop William in the time of the Conqueror.
Biz. Theatrical slang for “business” or stage by-play.
Black Brunswickers. A celebrated regiment of seven hundred volunteers raised in Bohemia in 1809 by Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick, who took up arms against Napoleon because the latter had obstructed his succession to his father’s dukedom. Their uniform was black, in token of mourning for the deceased Duke. Finding they could not bear against the power of France, they enlisted in the English service. Thus it came to pass that the Black Brunswickers fought at the Battle of Waterloo, where their gallant leader met his death. Afterwards they were heard of no more.
Black Bull. An inn sign derived from the heraldic device of the House of Clare.
Black Country. The name given to the great coalfield in the Midlands. It extends from Birmingham to Wolverhampton on one side and from Lyle Waste to West Bromwich on the other.
Black Friars. The Order of the Dominicans, so called from their habits. In the district of Blackfriars stood the great monastery.
Blackguards. A derisive nickname given originally to the scullions of the Royal Household, touching their grimy appearance, as contrasted with the spruceness of the Guards of Honour.
35Blackheath. A corruption of Bleak Heath.
Blackleg. After sporting men of a low type, who invariably wore black gaiters or top-boots.
Blackmail. Originally a tax or tribute paid to robbers or freebooters as a compromise for protection. “Black” implied the Gaelic for security, while mal was Anglo-Saxon for tribute.
Black Maria. Slang for a prison van. Many years ago a negress of powerful build and strength, named Maria Lee, kept a sailor’s lodging-house at Boston. Everyone dreaded her, and she so frequently assisted the police of that day to pin down a refractory prisoner before he could be manacled that “Send for Black Maria!” became quite a common exclamation among them. Hence the earliest vehicles for the conveyance of offenders against law and order, especially since they were painted black, were named after her.
Black Museum. The collection of criminal relics preserved at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard.
Black Prince. The sobriquet of Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Edward III., not because he wore black armour, as is generally supposed, but, according to Froissart, “by terror of his arms,” and again, Strutt, “for his martial deeds.”
Black Sea. From its many black rocks, which render navigation dangerous.
Blackwall. A corruption of Bleak Wall.
Black Watch. Soldiers first appointed to watch the Highlands of Scotland. They received the name from their black tartans.
Blandford Square. From Blandford, Dorsetshire, near Bryanstone, the seat of the great ground landlord, Viscount Portman.
Blankets. First made by the Brothers Blanket, of Bristol, in 1337.
36Blarney. Suave speeches intended only to gain time. When Cormack Macarthy was besieged by the English in Blarney Castle in 1662 he concluded an armistice, with the object of surrendering after a few days; but instead of doing so he sent out soft, evasive speeches, until Lord Carew and his soldiers were forced to admit that they had been duped. Hence the expression: “None of your Blarney.”
Blenheim Oranges. First cultivated at Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough.
Blenheim Street. In compliment to the Duke of Marlborough after the battle of Blenheim.
Blind Man’s Buff. So called because if any one of those taking part in the game allowed the blind man to buff up against him he had to be blindfolded in his place.
Blood. See “Penny Blood.”
Bloody. The addiction of the vulgar to the use of this adjective on all occasions has made it low and reprehensible. Anciently, however, it was employed in a most reverential sense, relative to the Blood of Christ–e.g. the “Bloody Sacrifice of the Mass.”
Bloody Assizes. Those held by Judge Jeffreys in 1685 for the punishment of all who had taken part in the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion. Three hundred persons were executed, and more than a thousand transported to the plantations.
Bloody Butcher. The sobriquet of the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II., owing to his wholesale slaughter of the adherents of Prince Charles Stuart, the Young Pretender, after the battle of Culloden.
Bloody Eleventh. The 11th Foot, in memory of the terrible slaughter inflicted on this regiment at Salamanca.
Bloody Tower. Where the infant Princes were murdered at the order of their uncle, Richard, Duke of Glo’ster.
Bloomers. After Mrs Ann Bloomer of New York, who introduced the original nondescript style of “New Woman” in 1849.
37Bloomsbury. A corruption of “Lomesbury,” the name of a manor house and grounds which stood on the site of the present square. “Lomesbury village” sprang up around the ancient church of St Giles’s in-the-Fields.
Bluchers. After Field-Marshal von Blucher, who affected this style of military half-boot.
Blue. An indecent story is said to be “blue” because harlots in the ancient Bridewell, and in more modern houses of correction or penitentiaries, were habited in blue gowns.
Blue Boar. An inn sign derived from the heraldic device of Richard III.
Blue Grass State. Kentucky, from the character of the orchard grass in this fertile limestone region.
Blue Hen’s Chickens. A nickname for the people of Delaware. The Delaware State Journal thus accounts for its origin: “At the beginning of the Revolutionary War there lived in Sussex county of that colony a gentleman of fortune named Caldwell, who was a sportsman, and breeder of fine horses and game-cocks. His favourite axiom was that the character of the progeny depends more on the mother than on the father, and that the finest game-cocks depended on the hen rather than on the cock. His observation led him to select a blue hen, and he never failed to hatch a good game-cock from a blue hen’s egg. Caldwell distinguished himself as an officer in the First Delaware Regiment for his daring spirit. The high state of its discipline was conceded to its exertions, so that when officers were sent on recruiting service it was said that they had gone home for more of Caldwell’s game-cocks; but as Caldwell insisted that no cock could be truly game unless its mother was a blue hen, the expression Blue Hen’s Chickens was substituted for game-cocks.”
Blue Law State. An old name for Connecticut, whose original settlers shared with the Puritans in the mother country a disgust of the licentiousness of the Court 38of the Restoration, and on this account were said to advocate “Blue” Laws.
Blue Noses. A nickname bestowed upon the Nova Scotians, from the species of potato which they produce and claim to be the best in the world.
Blue Peter. The flag hoisted at the mast head to give notice that a vessel is about to sail. Its name is a corruption of the French “Bleu Partir,” or blue departure signal.
Blue Pig. An inn sign, corrupted from the “Blue Boar.”
Blue Stocking. From the famous club of literary ladies formed by Mrs Montague in 1840, at which Benjamin Stillingfleet, who habitually wore blue stockings, was a regular visitor. Blue stockings, therefore, became the recognised badge of membership. There was, however, such a club of ladies and gentlemen at Venice as far back as 1400, called Della Calza, from the colour of stockings worn.
Blunderbuss. A corruption of the Dutch donderbus, “thunder tube.”
Board of Green Cloth. The steward of the Royal Household presides over this so called court, which has a green cover on its table.
Boar’s Head. The sign of the ancient tavern in Eastcheap immortalised by Shakespeare. This, like all others of the same name, was derived from the heraldic device of the Gordons, the earliest of whom slew a boar that had long been a terror of the forest.
Bob Apple. A very old boyish pastime. Standing on tiptoe, with their hands behind them, they tried to catch in their mouths an apple as it swung to and fro at the end of a piece of string suspended from the ceiling. A variant of the same game consisted in lying across a form and plunging their heads into a large tub of water, at the bottom of which was the apple.
Bobby. The nickname of a policeman, after Sir Robert 39Peel, to whom the introduction of the modern police system was due.
Bobs. The popular nickname of Lord Roberts during the South African War. He is also called “Lord Bobs.”
Boer. Expresses the Dutch for a farmer. Synonymous with the English “boor,” an uncultivated fellow, a tiller of the soil.
Bogtrotter. An Irishman, from the ease with which he makes his way across the native bogs, in a manner astonishing to a stranger.
Bogus. In reporting a trial at law The Boston Courier in 1857 gave the following authoritative origin:–“The word Bogus is a corruption of the name of one Borghese, a very corrupt individual, who twenty years ago or more did a tremendous business in the way of supplying the great west, and portions of the south-west, with counterfeit bills and bills on fictitious banks. The western people fell into the habit of shortening the name of Borghese to that of Bogus, and his bills, as well as all others of like character, were universally styled by them ‘bogus currency.’” So that the word is really American.
Bohea. Tea of the poorest quality, grown in the hilly district of Wu-i; pronounced by the Chinese Vooy.
Bohemia. From the Bohii, the ancient inhabitants of the country.
Bohemian. One who leads a hand-to-mouth existence by literary or other precarious pursuits, who shuns the ordinary conventions of society, and aspires to that only of his fellows. The term originally meant a “Gipsy,” because the earliest nomadic people who overran Western Europe did so by way of Bohemia.
Boiled Shirt. An Americanism, originally from the western states, for a starched white shirt.
Bolivia. After General Simon Bolivar, surnamed “The Liberator of Peru.”
40Bologna. A settlement of the Boii, after whom the Romans called it Bononia.
Bomba. The sobriquet of Ferdinand, King of Naples, on account of his bombardment of Messina in 1848.
Bonanza State. Nevada, on account of its rich mines, styled Bonanza mines. Bonanza is Spanish for “prosperity.”
Bond Street (Old and New). Built on the land owned by Sir Thomas Bond, Comptroller of the Household of Charles I.
Bone of Contention. In allusion to two dogs fighting over a bone.
Bone-shaker. The original type of bicycle, with wooden wheels, of which the rims consisted of small curved pieces glued together. Compared with a modern machine it was anything but easy riding.
Boniface. The popular name for an innkeeper–not that St Boniface was the patron saint of drawers and tapsters, but because one of the Popes of this name instituted what was called “St Boniface’s Cup,” by granting an indulgence to all who toasted his health, or that of his successors, immediately after saying grace at meals.
Booking Office. In the old coaching days passengers had to book their seats for a stage journey several days in advance at an office in the innyard whence the coaches set out. When railways came in the name was retained, though no “booking” was ever in evidence. Nearly all the old coaching innyards have been converted into railway goods and parcels receiving depots.
Bookmaker. From the way in which he adjusts his clients’ bets, so that, ordinarily, he cannot lose on the issue of a day’s racing.
Boot-jack. A wooden contrivance by which the wearer could help himself to take off his high-legged boots without the aid of a servant. Hence it was called a jack, which is the generic term for a man-servant or boy.
41Border Eagle State. Mississippi, on account of the Border Eagle in the arms of the state.
Bore. This name was first applied by the “Macaronies” to any person who disapproved of foppishness or dandyism. Nowadays it implies one whose conversation is uninteresting, and whose society becomes repugnant.
Borneo. A European application of the Sanskrit boorni, land.
Born in the Purple. Since purple was the Imperial colour of the Cæsars and the Emperors of the East, the sons of the reigning monarch were said to be born in it. This expression had a literal truth, for the bed furniture was draped with purple.
Born with a Silver Spoon in his Mouth. In allusion to the silver apostle spoon formerly presented to an infant by its godfather at baptism. In the case of a child born lucky or rich such a gift of worldly goods was anticipated at the moment of entering life.
Borough. The Burgh or town which arose on the south side of Old London Bridge, long before the City of London became closely packed with streets and houses.
Borough English. A Saxon custom, whereby the youngest son of a burgher inherited everything from his father, instead of the eldest, as among the Normans.
Bosh. See “All Bosh.”
Bosphorus. From the Greek bos-porus, cow strait, agreeably to the fable that Io, transformed into a white cow, swam across it.
Boss. A term derived from the Dutch settlers of New York, in whose language baas (pronounced like the a in all), expressed an overseer or master.
Boston. Short for St Botolph’s Town. “The stump” of the church is seen from afar across the Boston Deeps.
Botany Bay. So called by Captain Cook on account of the variety of, to him, new plants found on its shores. This portion of New South Wales was the first British 42Convict Settlement; hence Botany Bay became a term synonymous with penal servitude.
Botolph Lane. From the church of St Botolph, situated in it.
Bottle of Hay. A corruption of “bundle of hay,” from the French botte, a bundle, of which the word bottle expresses the diminutive.
Bottom Dollar. An Americanism for one’s last coin.
Bovril. An adaptation of bovis, ox, and vril, strength–the latter being a word coined by Lord Lytton in “The Coming Race.”
Bow. From the ancient stone bridge over the Lea, which was the first ever built in this country on a bow or arch.
Bow Church. Properly the church of St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, the first in this country to be built on bows or arches.
Bowdlerise. In the year 1818 Thomas Bowdler brought out an expurgated edition of Shakespeare’s Plays; hence a “Bowdlerised Edition” of any work is one of which the original text has been unwarrantably tampered with.
Bowie Knife. After Colonel Jim Bowie, a famous fighter of the western states, who first armed himself with this weapon.
Bow Street. From its arc shape when first laid out.
Bow Street Runners. Primitive detectives sent out from their headquarters in Bow Street in highwayman days.
Bowyer Tower. Anciently the residence of the Tower bowyer or bowmaker. Here, according to tradition, the Duke of Clarence was drowned in a butt of “Malmsey.”
Boxing Day. See “Christmas-box.”
Box Office. At one time only the private boxes at a theatre could be booked in advance; hence the term.
43Box the Compass. To be able to repeat all the thirty-two degrees or points of the mariner’s compass; a mental exercise all round the compass-box.
Boycott. To ostracise a man. This word came into use in 1881, after Captain Boycott of Lough Mark Farm, co. Mayo, was cut off from all social and commercial intercourse with his neighbours for the crime of being an Irish landlord.
Boy King. Edward VI., who ascended the throne of England in his tenth, and died in his sixteenth, year.
Boz. Under this nom de plume Charles Dickens published his earliest “Sketches” of London life and character in The Morning Chronicle. He has told us himself that this was the pet name of a younger brother, after Moses Primrose in “The Vicar of Wakefield.” The infantile members of the family pronounced the name “Bozes,” and at last shortened it into “Boz.”
Bradford. From the Anglo-Saxon Bradenford, “broad ford.”
Braggadocio. After Braggadochio, a boasting character in Spenser’s “Faery Queene.”
Brahma Fowl. Originally from the district of the Brahmapootra River in India. Pootra is Sanskrit for Son; hence the river name means “The Son of Brahma.”
Brandy. From the German Brantwein, burnt wine. A spirituous distillation from wine.
Brazenose College. The brazen nose on the college gate notwithstanding, this name was derived from the fact that here stood an ancient brasenhuis, or “brew-house.” Oxford has always been famous for the excellent quality of its beer.
Bravo. In Italy one who is always boasting of his courage and prowess; generally a hired assassin.
Brazil. From braza, the name given by the Portuguese to the red dye-wood of the country.
44Bread Street. Where the bakers had their stalls in connection with the Old Chepe, or market.
Break Bread. To accept hospitality. In the East bread is baked in the form of large cakes, which are broken, never cut with a knife. To break bread with a stranger ensures the latter personal protection as long as he remains under the roof of his host.
Breakfast. The morning meal, when the fast since the previous night’s supper is broken.
Break the Bank. Specifically at the gaming-tables of Monte Carlo. With extraordinary luck this may be done on occasion; but the winner’s triumph is short-lived since, the capital of the bank being unlimited, if he continues to play after fresh stores of gold have been produced, he must lose in the end.
Brecon. See “Brecknock.”
Brecknock. The capital (also called Brecon) of one of the shires of Wales, originally Breckineauc, after Brychan, a famous Welsh prince. Brecknock Road takes its name from Lord Camden, Earl of Brecknock, the ground landlord.
Breeches Bible. From the word “breeches” for “aprons” (Genesis iii. 7).
Brentford. The ford over the Brent.
Breviary. The name given to an abridgment of the daily prayers, for the use of priests, during the Seven Canonical Hours, made by Pope Gregory VII. in the eleventh century.
Brevier. The style of type originally employed in the composition of the Catholic “Breviary.”
Bridegroom. The word groom comes from the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon guma, man, allied to the Latin homo, man. It still expresses a man-servant who grooms or attends to his master’s horse.
Bride Lane. From the church of St Bride or Bridget.
45Bride of the Sea. Venice, in allusion to the ancient ceremony of “The Marriage of the Adriatic.”
Bridewell. The name anciently given to a female penitentiary, from the original establishment near the well of St Bride or Bridget in the parish of Blackfriars. The name is preserved in Bridewell Police Station.
Brigadier. The commanding officer of a brigade.
Bridge. Twenty years ago two families at Great Dalby, Leicestershire, paid each other a visit on alternate nights, for a game of what they called Russian whist. Their way lay across a broken bridge, very dangerous after nightfall. “Thank goodness, it’s your bridge to-morrow night!” they were wont to exclaim on parting. This gave the name to the game itself.
Bridge of Sighs. The bridge forming a covered gallery over the Canal at Venice between the State prisons on the one hand and the palace of the Doges on the other. Prisoners were led to the latter to hear the death sentence pronounced, and thence to execution. No State prisoner was ever known to recross this bridge; hence its name.
Bridgewater Square. From the town house of the Earls of Bridgewater.
Brief. A brief summary of all the facts of a client’s case prepared by a solicitor for the instruction of counsel.
Bristol. Called by the Anglo-Saxons “Brightstow,” or pleasant, stockaded place.
Britain. This country was known to the Phœnicians as Barat-Anac, “the land of time.” The Romans called it Britannia.
British Columbia. The only portion of North America which honours the memory, as a place name, of Christopher Columbus.
Brittany. The land anciently possessed by the kings of Britain.
Brixton. Anciently Brigestan, the bridge of stone.
46Broadside. A large sheet printed straight across instead of in columns.
Broker. From the Anglo-Saxon brucan, through the Old English brocour, to use for profit.
Brompton. Anciently Broom Town, or place of the broom plant.
Brook Street. From a stream meandering through the fields from Tyburn.
Brooke Street. From the town house of Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke. In this street the boy poet Chatterton poisoned himself.
Brother Jonathan. After Jonathan Turnbull, the adviser of General Washington in all cases of military emergency. “We must ask Brother Jonathan” was the latter’s invariable reply to a suggestion made to him.
Brougham. First made to the order of Lord Brougham.
Brought under the Hammer. Put up for sale by public auction. The allusion is, of course, to the auctioneer’s hammer.
Bruce Castle. The residence of Robert Bruce after his defeat by John Baliol in the contest for the Scottish crown.
Bruges. From its many bridges.
Brummagem. The slang term for cheap jewellery made at Birmingham. In local parlance this city is “Brummagem,” and its inhabitants are “Brums.”
Brunswick Square. Laid out and built upon at the accession of the House of Brunswick.
Bruton Street. From the seat of the Berkeleys at Bruton, Somersetshire.
Bryanstone Square. From the seat, near Blandford, Dorset, of Viscount Portman, the ground landlord.
Bucephalus. A horse, after the famous charger of Alexander the Great.
47Buckeye State. Ohio, from the buckeye-trees with which this state abounds. Its people are called “Buckeyes.”
Buckingham. The Anglo-Saxon Boccenham, or “beech-tree village.”
Buckingham Palace. After the residence, on this site, of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham.
Buckingham Street. From the older mansion of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham. The water-gate is still in evidence.
Buckle to. An expression descended from the days of chivalry, when a knight buckled on his armour for the tournament.
Bucklersbury. Anciently the bury or enclosed ground of a wealthy grocer named Buckle or Bukerel.
Budge Row. From the vendors of “Budge” or lambskin fur who congregated here.
Bug Bible. From the word “bugges”–i.e. bogies–in place of “the terror” (Psalm xci. 5).
Buggy. From bâghi, the Hindustani for a one-horse vehicle.
Bull. A papal edict, so called on account of the bulla, or seal.
Bull and Gate. An inn sign, corrupted from “Boulogne Gate,” touching the siege of Boulogne and its harbour by Henry VIII. in 1544.
Bulgaria. A corruption of Volgaria, the country of the Volsci.
Bull-dog. A dog originally employed in the brutal sport of bull-baiting. The name is also given to one of the two attendants of the proctor at a university while going his rounds by night.
Bullion State. Missouri, after Thomas Hart Benton, who, when representing this state in Congress, merited the nickname of “Old Bullion,” from his spirited advocacy of a gold and silver currency instead of “Greenbacks” or paper.
48Bullyrag. See “Ragging.”
Bullyruffian. A corruption of the Bellerophon, the vessel on which Napoleon surrendered after the battle of Waterloo.
Bungalow. From the Bengalese bangla, a wooden house of one storey surrounded by a verandah.
Bunhill Fields. Not from the Great Plague pit in Finsbury, but from the cart-loads of human bones shot here when the charnel-house of St Paul’s Churchyard was pulled down in 1549.
Bunkum. Originally a Congressman’s speech, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” An oratorial flight not intended to carry a proposal, but to catch popular applause. The representative for Buncombe, in North Carolina, occupied the time of the house at Washington so long with a meaningless speech that many members left the hall. Asked his reason for such a display of empty words, he replied: “I was not speaking to the House, but to Buncombe.”
Bureau. French for a writing-desk, from buro, a drugget, with which it was invariably covered.
Burgess Roll. See “Roll Call.”
Burgundy. A wine produced in the French province of the same name.
Burke. To stop or gag–e.g. to burke a question. After an Irishman of this name, who silently and secretly took the lives of many peaceable citizens by holding a pitch plaster over their mouths, in order to sell their bodies to the doctors for dissection. He was hanged in 1849. His crimes were described as “Burking.”
Burleigh Street. From the residence of Lord Burleigh in Exeter Street, hard by.
Burlington Street (Old and New). After Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington and Cork, from whom Burlington House, refronted by him, also received its name.
49Burmah. From the natives, who claim to be descendants of Brahma, the supreme deity of the Hindoos.
Burton Crescent. After the name of its builder.
Bury St Edmunds. A corruption of the Borough of St Edmund, where the Saxon king and martyr was crowned on Christmas Day, 856. Taken prisoner and killed by the Danes, he was laid to rest here. Over the site of his tomb Canute built a Benedictine monastery.
Bury Street. Properly Berry Street, after its builder.
Bury the Hatchet. At a deliberation of war the hatchet is always in evidence among the Indians of North America, but when the calumet, or pipe of peace, is being passed round, the symbol of warfare is carefully hidden.
Busking. Theatrical slang for an al fresco performance to earn a few coppers. To “go busking on the sands” is the least refined aspect of a Pierrot Entertainment. See “Sock and Buskin.”
Buy a Pig in a Poke. A man naturally wants to see what he is bargaining for. “Poke” is an old word for a sack or large bag, of which pocket expresses the diminutive.
By Gad. A corruption of the old oath “By God.”
By George. Originally this oath had reference to the patron saint of England. In more modern times it was corrupted into “By Jove,” so that it might have applied to Jupiter; then at the Hanoverian Succession the ancient form came in again.
By Hook or by Crook. The final word here is a corruption of Croke. More than a century ago two eminent K.C.’s named Hook and Croke were most generally retained by litigants in action at law. This gave rise to the saying: “If I can’t win my case by Hook I will by Croke.”
By Jingo. An exclamation traceable to the Basque mountaineers brought over to England by Edward I. to aid him in the subjection of Wales at the time when 50the Plantagenets held possession of the Basque provinces. “Jainko” expressed the supreme deity of these hillmen.
By Jove. See “By George.”
By the Holy Rood. The most solemn oath of the crusaders. “Rood,” from the Anglo-Saxon rod, was the Old English name for Cross.
By the Mass. A common oath in the days of our Catholic ancestors, when quarrels were generally made up by the parties attending Mass together.
By the Peacock. See “Peacock.”
By the Skin of my Teeth. An expression derived from Job xix. 20: “My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.”
Byward Tower. A corruption of Bearward Tower, the residence of the Tower “Bearward.” The bear-house at our national fortress in the time of James I. is mentioned in Nichol’s “Progresses and Processions.”
C
Cab. Short for “Cabriolet,” or little caperer, from cabriole, a goat’s leap. See “Capri.”
Cabal. A political term formed out of the initials of the intriguing ministry of 1670–thus: Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale.
Cabinet. The designation of Ministers of State, who first conducted their deliberations in a cabinet, from the Italian gabinetto, a small room. A picture or photograph of this size received its name from the apartment for which it was best suited.
Cabin Girls. Waitresses at the “Cabin” Restaurants Limited.
Cablegram. An Americanism for telegram.
Cadiz. Called Gades by the Romans, from the Phœnician Gadir, enclosed, shut in.
51Cadogan Square. From the Earl of Cadogan, the lord of the manor of Chelsea.
Cahoot. An Americanism for partnership or company, derived from the French capute, hut, cabin. Men who share a cabin or shanty are said to be “in cahoot.”
Caitiff. An old term of contempt for a despicable person, derived from the Latin captivis, a captive, slave.
Caius College. The name given to Gonville College, Cambridge, after its refoundation by Dr Caius by royal charter in 1558.
Cake Walk. A musical walking competition round a cake, very popular among the negroes of the southern states. The couple adjudged to walk most gracefully receive the cake as a prize.
Calcutta. From Kalikutta, “the village of Kali,” the goddess of time.
Caledonia. The country of the Caels or Gaels; Gadhel in the native tongue signified a “hidden cover.”
Caledonian Road. From the Royal Caledonian Asylum for Scottish orphans, now removed.
Calico. First brought from Calicut in the East Indies.
California. Called by Cortez Caliente Fornalla, or “hot furnace,” on account of its climate.
Caliph. From the Arabic Khalifah, a successor.
Called over the Coals. A corruption of “Hauled over the Coals.”
Camberwell. From the ancient holy well in the vicinity of the church of St Giles, the patron saint of cripples. Cam is Celtic for “crooked.”
Cambria. The country of the Cimbri or Cymri, who finally settled in Wales.
Cambric. First made at Cambray in Flanders.
Cambridge. From the bridge over the Cam, or “crooked” river. See “Cantab.”
52Camden Town. After the Earl of Camden, the ground landlord.
Camellia. Introduced into Europe by G. J. Camelli, the German missionary botanist.
Camera Obscura. Literally a dark chamber.
Cameron Highlanders. The Scottish regiment of infantry raised by Allan Cameron in 1793.
Camisard. A military term for a night attack, after the Camisards, Protestant insurgents of the seventeenth century, who, wearing a camise, or peasant’s smock, conducted their depredations under cover of night.
Camomile Street. From the herbs that grew on the waste north of the city.
Campania. An extensive plain outside Rome, across which the “Appian Way” was constructed. The word comes from the Latin campus, a field.
Campden Square. From the residence of Sir Baptist Hicks, created Viscount Campden.
Canada. From the Indian kannatha, a village or collection of huts.
Canary. Wine and a species of singing bird brought from the Canary Islands, so called, agreeably to the Latin canis, on account of the large dogs found there.
Candia. Anciently Crete, called by the Arabs Khandæ, “island of trenches.”
Candy. An Americanism for sweetmeats. The Arabic quand, sugar, gave the French word candi.
Canned Meat. An Americanism for tinned meat.
Cannibal. See “Caribbean Sea.”
Cannon Row. The ancient residence of the Canons of St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.
Cannon Street. A corruption of Candlewick Street, where the candle-makers congregated.
Cannucks. See “K’nucks.”
53Canonbury. From the manorial residence of the priors of St Bartholomew Church, Clerkenwell, of which the ancient tower remains.
Cant. After Alexander and Andrew Cant, a couple of bigoted Covenanters, who persecuted their religious opponents with relentless zeal, and at the same time prayed for those who suffered on account of their religious opinions.
Cantab. Of Cambridge University. The River Cam was anciently called the Granta; hence the Saxon name of the city Grantabrycge, or the bridge over the Granta, softened later into Cantbrigge.
Canterbury. The fortified place or chief town of “Kent.”
Canterbury Music Hall. This, the first of the London music halls, opened in 1848, grew out of the old-time popular “free-and-easy,” or “sing-song,” held in an upper room of what was until then a tavern displaying the arms of the city of Canterbury, and styled the “Canterbury Arms.”
Cantlowes Road. See “Kentish Town.”
Canvas Back. A species of sea-duck, regarded as a luxury on account of the delicacy of its flesh. So called from the colour of the plumage on its back.
Cape Finisterre. Adapted by the French from the Latin finis terra, “land’s end.”
Capel Court. The Stock Exchange, so called from the residence of Sir William Capel, Lord Mayor in 1504.
Cape of Good Hope. So called by John II., King of Portugal, after Diaz had touched this point of Africa, as a favourable augury for the circumnavigation of the globe.
Cape Horn. Named Hoorn, after his birthplace, by Schouten, the Dutch navigator, who first rounded it.
Capri. From the Latin caper, a he-goat, expresses the island of wild goats.
54Capuchin Friars. From the pointed cowl or capuce worn by them.
Carat Gold. So called because gold and precious stones were formerly weighted against carat seeds or seeds of the Abyssinian coral flower.
Carbonari. Italian for charcoal-burners, in whose huts this secret society held its meetings.
Carburton Street. From the Northamptonshire village on the ducal estate of the ground landlord.
Cardiff. From Caer Taff, the fort on the Taff.
Cardigan. After Ceredog, a famous chieftain.
Caribbean Sea. From the Caribbs, which West Indian designation signifies “cruel men.” Corrupted through the Spanish Caribal, we have derived the word “Cannibal,” for one who eats human flesh.
Carlton House Terrace. From Carlton House, built by Lord Carlton, later the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales, the father of George III.
Carmagnole. A wild song and dance which came into prominence during the French Revolution. It received its name from Carmagnolas, a town in Piedmont, whence the Savoyard boys carried the tune into the south of France.
Carmarthen. A corruption of Caer-merlin, or the fortress built by Merlin, in the neighbourhood of which he was born.
Carmelites. White Friars of the order of Mount Carmel.
Carnarvon. The fortress on the Arfon, or water.
Carolina. After Carollus, the Latinised name of Charles II., who granted a charter of colonisation to eight of his favourites.
Caroline Islands. In honour of Charles I. of Spain.
Carpenter. Originally one who made only the body or wooden portion of a vehicle. So called from the Latin 55carpentum, waggon. An ordinary worker in wood was, and still is in the English provinces, a joiner.
Carpet Knight. A civilian honoured with a knighthood by the sovereign. One who has not won his spurs on the field, like the knights of old.
Carry Coals to Newcastle. To do that which is altogether superfluous. It would be ridiculous to take coals to a place where they are found in abundance.
Cartaret Street. After John Cartaret, Earl of Granville, Secretary of State, and one of the most popular ministers of the reign of George II.
Carte de Visite. Photographs received this name because the Duc de Parma in 1857 had his likeness printed on the back of his large visiting-cards.
Carthage. From the Phœnician Karth-hadtha, New Town.
Carthagena. From Carthago Novo, or New Carthage.
Carthusians. Monks of La Chartreuse, near Grenoble. This name is also given to former scholars of the “Charter House.”
Carthusian Street. Although some distance to the west of it, this street leads to the “Charter House.”
Caspian Sea. From the Caspii, who peopled its shores.
Castile. In Spanish Castilla, from the castles or forts set up for defence against the Moors.
Castle. An inn sign denoting a wine-house, from the castle in the arms of Spain.
Catacombs. Italian Catacomba, from the Greek kata, downward, and kumbe, a hollow, a cavity.
Cat and Fiddle. A corruption of “Caton le Fidele,” the faithful Caton, Governor of Calais, whose name was honoured by many an inn sign.
Cat and Wheel. A corruption of the old inn sign the “Catherine Wheel,” the instrument of the martyrdom of St Catherine.
56Cat Call. A corruption of Cat Wail. When a theatre or music-hall audience is dissatisfied with the performance, and impatient for it to be brought to an end, the “Gods” indulging in “Mewing” like a chorus of cats on the roof by night.
Catch a Weasel asleep. No one ever caught a weasel napping, for the simple reason that he hides himself in a hole away from the sight of man.
Catchpenny. Short for “Catnach Penny,” from the penny dying speeches and yard of songs printed by James Catnach in Seven Dials, and hawked about the streets. The “Catnach Press” was as great a power in that day as the trashy “Bits” literature is in our own.
Cathedral. From the Greek kathedra, a seat–i.e. the chair of a bishop. See “City.”
Caucus. From the Caulkers of Boston, U.S., who shortly before the Revolution came into open conflict with the British soldiery. Meetings were held in the calk houses, and a Caulkers’ Club was formed. Since that time a political meeting of American citizens has been styled a Caucus.
Cavalier. From the French chevalier, a horseman.
Cavendish. Tobacco pressed into plugs for chewing, from the name of the first maker.
Cavendish Square. After Henrietta Cavendish, second wife of Lord Harley, the ground landlord.
Centennial State. Colorado, admitted into the American Union one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence.
Ceylon. Called by the Portuguese Selen, an abbreviation of the Sanskrit Sinhaladwipa, “Island of Lyons.”
Chadwell Street. After the name of the source of the New River in Hertfordshire. The well was anciently dedicated to St Chad.
Chaff. A corruption of chafe, to make hot with anger, as heat may be produced by friction.
57Chalk Farm. Originally “Chalcot Farm,” a noted resort for duellists of a past day.
Chalk it up. In allusion to the drink score chalked on a slate against a customer at a country ale-house.
Champagne. A light wine, from the French province of the same name, which expresses a plain, from the Latin campus, field.
Champs de Mars. Expresses the large open space or “Plain of Mars,” in Paris, set apart for military reviews.
Chancery Lane. A corruption of “Chancellor’s Lane,” from the town house of the Bishops of Chichester, afterwards the residence of the Lord High Chancellor of England.
Chandos Street. From the residence of James Bridges, Duke of Chandos.
Chap. Originally short for “Chapman,” one who sold his wares at a chepe, or market.
Chap Book. A small book or tract sold by chapmen. See “Chap.”
Chapel. A printers’ meeting held in the composing-room, so called because Caxton set up the first English press in a disused chapel of Westminster Abbey. The presiding workman is styled “The Father of the Chapel.”
Chapel of Ease. An auxiliary place of worship, for the convenience of those who resided at a great distance from the parish church.
Charing Cross. The idea that this spot received its name from the “good Queen” Eleanor, whose bier was set down here for the last time on its way to Westminster Abbey has been exploded. It was even then called the village of Charing, in honour of La Chère Reine, the Blessed Virgin, this being the usual halting-place between London and the venerable Abbey.
Charlatan. From the Italian ciarlatano, a quack, a babbler, a loquacious itinerant who sold medicines in a public square.
58Charles Martel. See “Martel.”
Charles Street. Built upon in the reign of Charles II.
Charlies. The old night watchmen reorganised by Charles I. These were the only civic protectors down to the introduction of the modern police system by Sir Robert Peel.
Charlotte Street. After the queen of George III.
Charter House. A corruption of La Chartreuse, one of the English houses of the Order of monks of the place of the same name in France.
Chartreuse. The liqueurs prepared at the monastery of La Chartreuse, near Grenoble.
Chauffeur. The French term for a motor-car driver; it has no English equivalent.
Cheap Jack. A modern equivalent for “Chap-man.” Jack is a generic name for man-servant or an inferior person.
Cheapside. The High Street of the city of London, consequently abutting on the chepe, or market-place.
Cheese it. A corruption of “Choose it better,” or, in other words, “Tell me something I can believe.”
Chef. French for head or master. Employed alone, the word expresses a head man cook.
Chelmsford. The ford over the Chelmer.
Chelsea. Anciently “Chevelsey,” or “Shingle Island.” See “Chiswick.”
Chequers. An inn sign derived from the arms of the Fitzwarrens, one of whom had the granting of vintners’ licences.
Cherry Bob. An old summer pastime for boys. A bunch of cherries suspended from a beam or tree-branch was kept swinging to and fro, while the boys, with their hands behind them, tried to catch the fruit with their mouths.
Cherry Gardens Pier. A name reminiscent of a popular resort of bygone days in connection with the 59“Jamaica” in front of which rum, newly arrived from the West Indies, was landed.
Cherry Pickers. The 11th Hussars, because, when captured by the French during the Peninsular War, some men of the regiment were robbing an orchard.
Chesapeake. Indian for “great waters.”
Chester. The city built on the Roman castra, or camp.
Chestnut. Edwin Abbey, the painter of the Coronation picture, is said to have been responsible for the term “Chestnut” as applied to a stale joke. While a member of a club at Philadelphia he always told a story about a man who had a chestnut farm, but made nothing out of it because he gave his chestnuts away. Abbey invariably began this story differently, so that his follow clubmen would not recognise it, but they soon interrupted him by exclaiming “Chestnuts!”
Chestnut Sunday. The first Sunday in June, when the chestnut-trees in Bushey Park at Hampton Court are in bloom.
Cheyne Walk. After Lord Cheyne, lord of the manor of Chelsea in the seventeenth century.
Chicago. Indian for “wild onion.”
Chichester. The Roman camp town taken by Cissa, King of the South Saxons, thenceforth called Cissanceaster.
Chichester Rents. The site of the town mansion of the Bishops of Chichester.
Chili. Peruvian for “land of snow.”
China. After Tsin, the founder of a great dynasty. Earthenware of a superior quality was first made in China; hence the name.
Chin Music. An Americanism for derisive laughter.
Chip off the Old Block. A saying in allusion to the “Family Tree.”
Chippendale. Furniture of elegant design, named after its famous maker.
60Chiswick. Anciently “Cheoselwick,” or village of shingles, from the Anglo-Saxon ceosal, sand, gravel.
Chocolat-Menier. The perfection of chocolate, introduced by M. Menier of Paris, who died in 1881.
Choke Him off. The allusion is to grip a dog by the throat in order to make him relax his hold.
Christiania. Rebuilt by Christian IV. of Denmark.
Christian Scientists. A modern offshoot of the Peculiar People, or Faith Healers, who believe that sickness and pain can be cured by faith and prayer without medicine.
Christmas-box. A relic of Catholic days, when a box was placed in all the churches to receive Christmas alms for the poor. These were distributed on the day following.
Christmas Island. Captain Cook landed here on Christmas Day, 1777.
Christ’s College. Founded at Cambridge by Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., for a master and twelve fellows, corresponding to Christ and His apostles, to whom it was dedicated.
Christy Minstrels. After Charles Christy, who introduced the Negro Minstrel Entertainment to England.
Church Ale. Specifically the ale brewed by the church-wardens for merrymakers on the village green at Whitsuntide and other high holidays. Later the assemblage itself came to be styled a “Church Ale.”
Chute. The French for “a fall,” applied by the Americans to a declivity of water. The exciting diversion of boating on such a waterfall is styled “Shooting the Chutes.”
Cicerone. After Cicero, the prince of speakers. The comparison between the celebrated orator and the “Roman Guide” befooled by Mark Twain is rather painful.
61Cigar. From the Spanish Cigarro, the original name of a particular kind of Cuban tobacco.
Cinderella Dance. Because it is brought to an end at twelve o’clock, in allusion to the heroine in the fairy story.
Circumlocution Office. A term first applied to the shuttle-cock methods in vogue at our public offices by Charles Dickens in “Little Dorrit.”
Cistercians. An Order of monks established at Cistercium, or Citeau, near Dijon.
City. The proper and historic distinction between a city and a town lies in the fact that the former is the seat of a bishop, and accordingly contains a cathedral. In modern times many burghs or towns have been advanced to the dignity of a city on account of their commercial importance. These are, however, cities only in name.
City Fathers. Aldermen of the city of London.
City Golgotha. Old Temple Bar, from the heads of rebels spiked on its top. Golgotha is Hebrew for “the place of skulls.”
Claim. A squatter’s term for a piece of land which he has marked off and settled upon pending its legal acquisition from the Government. During the gold fever the name also came to be applied to the land parcelled out to each digger.
Clare Market. The site of Clare House, the residence of the Earl of Clare.
Clarence. A carriage named after the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV.
Clarges Street. From the mansion of Sir Walter Clarges, afterwards taken over by the Venetian ambassador.
Clarendon. The black type first used at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, which owed its foundation to the profits of Lord Clarendon’s “History of the Rebellion,” presented to the University.
62Claude Lorraine. The assumed name of the celebrated landscape painter Claude Galée, who was a native of Lorraine.
Cleaned Out. Pockets emptied of cash. The allusion is to a saucepan or other domestic cooking utensil which is cleansed after use.
Clerkenwell. The holy well beside which the parish clerks performed their miracle plays on festival days.
Clifford Street. After Elizabeth Clifford, wife of the Earl of Burlington.
Closure. A modern parliamentary term signifying the right of the Speaker to order the closing of a useless debate. The Closure was first applied 24th February 1884.
Cloth Fair. The great annual mart for the sale of cloth brought over by Flemish merchants.
Club. From the German kleben, to adhere, cleave to, associate.
Clyde. The strong river, from the Gaelic clyth, strong.
Coast is Clear. Originally a smugglers’ phrase relative to coastguards.
Coat of Arms. During the days of chivalry, when a knight was completely encased in armour and the vizor of his helmet was drawn over his face, his sole mode of distinction was by the embroidered design of his armorial bearings on a sleeveless coat that he wore in the lists at tournaments. In warfare the coat was dispensed with, but he was known to his comrades by another device on the crest of his helmet.
Cobbler. An American drink of spirits, beer, sugar, and spice, said to have been first concocted by a Western shoemaker.
Coblentz. From the Latin name, Confluentia, being situated at the confluence of the Rivers Rhine and Moselle.
63Cockade. From the party badge originally displayed on a cocked hat. See “Knocked into a Cocked Hat.”
Cockade State. Maryland, from the brilliant cockades worn by the brave Old Maryland Regiment during the War of Independence.
Cockney. From “Cockayne,” a Fools’ Paradise, where there is nothing but eating and drinking, described in a satiric poem of the thirteenth century. The word was clearly derived from coquere, to cook, and had reference to London, where the conduits on occasion ran with wine, and good living fell to the lot of men generally.
Cock-penny. A penny levied by the master on each of the boys for allowing the brutal sport of cock-throwing in school on Shrove Tuesday formerly. The master himself found the bird.
Cocktail. Tradition has it that one of Montezuma’s nobles sent a draught of a new beverage concocted by him from the cactus plant to the Emperor by his daughter Xochitl. The Aztec monarch smiled, tasted it, gulped it down with a relish, and, it is said, afterwards married the girl; thenceforward this drink became the native tipple, and for centuries it bore the softened name of Octel. The corruption of Octel into Cocktail by the soldiers of the American Army when, under General Scott, they invaded Mexico, about sixty years ago, was easy.
Coger. A slang term derived from the members of the celebrated Cogers’ Club in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. They styled themselves “Cogers” from the Latin cogito, to think deeply.
Cohees. Natives of Western Pennsylvania, owing to their addiction to the phrase “Quoth he,” softened into Quo’he.
Coin Money. To make money as fast as it is turned out at the Mint. Few men are so fortunate.
Coke Hat. After William Coke, who popularised it. See “Billycock.”
64Coldbath Fields. A district of Clerkenwell now long built over, but famous for a cold bath; the site is marked by the present Bath Street.
Colchester. The camp town on the Colne.
Coldstream Guards. The regiment raised by General Monk at Coldstream, Berwickshire, in 1660.
Coleman Street. Said to have been built upon by one Coleman; but long before his time the coalmen or charcoal merchants congregated here.
Colleen. Irish for girl. “Colleen Bawn” expresses a blonde girl.
College Hill. From a collegiate foundation of Sir Richard Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London.
College Port. Inferior port served up to the older students at college. It is said to be specially prepared for this market.
Collop Monday. The day preceding Shrove Tuesday, when housewives cut up all their meat into large steaks or collops for salting during Lent.
Cologne. The Colonia Agrippina of the Romans, so called after the mother of Nero, who was born here.
Colonel. A Far-West title of courtesy bestowed upon anyone who owns a stud horse.
Colorado. The Spaniards gave this name to the state in allusion to its coloured ranges.
Colosseum. Greek for “great amphitheatre.”
Combine. An Americanism for “Combination.” Applied in a financial or commercial sense, this term is now well understood in our own country.
Come up to the Scratch. A prize-fighting expression. A line was scratched on the ground with a stick, and the combatants were expected to toe it with the left foot.
Commonwealth. In theatrical parlance, a sharing out of the proceeds of the week’s performances after all expenses have been deducted. This generally happens 65when the manager has decamped with the entire takings, and left his company stranded.
Compton Street (Old and New). Built upon by Sir Richard Compton and Bishop Compton respectively.
Conduit Street. From a conduit of spring water set up here before the land was built over.
Confidence Man. An Americanism for one who in this country is known to extract money from strangers by the “confidence trick.”
Confounded Liar. Literally one who is covered with confusion on being brought face to face with the truth.
Congleton Bears. A nickname given to the people of Congleton, Cheshire. Local tradition has it that the bear intended for baiting at the holiday sports died, and, to procure another, the authorities appropriated the money collected for a new Church Bible.
Congregationalists. Independent Nonconformists, who are neither Baptists nor Wesleyans, and claim the right to “call” their own ministers, each congregation managing its own affairs.
Connecticut. From the Indian Quinnitukut, “country of the long river.”
Conscience Money. Money sent anonymously to the Treasury in respect of Income-Tax after the thought of having defrauded the Revenue has pricked the individual conscience.
Constance. Founded by Constantine, the father of Constantine the Great; one of the oldest cities of Germany.
Constantinople. The city of Constantine.
Constitution Hill. Where John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, took his daily constitutional walk while residing at Buckingham House, built by him in 1703. On the site of this mansion George IV. erected the present edifice, Buckingham Palace, in 1825.
66Cook your Goose. An old chronicler thus explains this saying: “The Kyng of Swedland coming to a towne of his enemyes with very little company, his enemyes, to slyghte his forces, did hang out a goose for him to shoote, but perceiving before nyghte that these fewe soldiers had invaded and sette their chief houlds on fire, they demanded of him what his intent was, to whom he replied, ‘To cook your goose.’”
Coon. Short for racoon, an American animal much prized on account of its fur.
Cooper. A publican’s term for half ale and half porter. See “Entire.”
Copenhagen Street. From Copenhagen Fields, where stood a noted tea-house opened by a Dane.
Copper. A policeman, from the thieves’ slang cop, to take, catch.
Copperheads. A political faction of North America during the Civil War, regarded as secret foes, and so called after the copperhead serpent, which steals upon its enemy unawares.
Cordeliers. Franciscan Friars distinguished from the parent Order by the knotted waist-cord.
Corduroy. In French Cord du Roy, “King’s cord,” because ribbed or corded material was originally worn only by the Kings of France.
Cordwainer. The old name for a shoemaker, because the leather he worked upon was Cordwain, a corruption of Cordovan, brought from the city of Cordova.
Cork. From the Gaelic corroch, a swamp.
Cork Street. From the residence of Lord Cork, one of the four brothers of the Boyle family.
Corncrackers. The Kentuckians, from a native bird of the crane species called the Corncracker.
Corner. The creation of a monopoly of prices in respect of natural produce or manufactured goods. The allusion 67here is to speculators who agreed in a quiet corner, at or near the Exchange, to buy up the whole market.
Cornhill. The ancient city corn market.
Cornwall. Pursuant to the Saxon Wahl, the horn of land peopled by foreigners.
Corpus Christi College. At Cambridge, founded by the united guilds or fraternities of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin.
Corsica. A Phœnician term for “wooded isle.”
Cossack. The Russian form of the Tartar term kasake, a horseman.
Costa Rica. Spanish for “rich coast.”
Costermonger. In Shakespeare’s time a Costardmonger, or trader in a famous species of apple so called.
Cottonopolis. Manchester, the city identified with English cotton manufacture.
Cotton Plantation State. Alabama, from its staple industry.
Cotton to. An Americanism meaning to cling to a man as cotton would cling to his garments.
Counter-jumper. The derisive nickname of a draper’s assistant, on account of his agility in leaping over the counter as a short cut from one department to another.
Country Dance. A corruption of the French contre danse, from the opposite positions of the dancers.
Coup de Grace. The merciful finishing stroke of the executioner after a criminal had been tortured by having all his bones broken on a wheel. One blow on the head then put him out of his misery.
Court Cards. Properly Coat Cards, on account of their heraldic devices.
Court of Arches. The ecclesiastical Court of Appeal for the Archbishopric of Canterbury which in ancient times was held in the crypt of St Mary-le-Bow, or St Mary of the Arches at Cheapside. See “Bow Church.”
68Court Plaster. The plaster out of which ladies of the Court fashioned their decorative (?) face patches.
Covenanters. Those who entered into a Solemn League or Covenant to resist the religious and political measures of Charles I. in 1638.
Covent Garden. A corruption of Convent Garden, the site of which was converted into a market, temp. Charles II. The convent and garden belonged to the Abbey at Westminster.
Coventry. A corruption of Conventry–i.e. Convent town. Before the Reformation it was far famed for the number of its conventual establishments. The suffix try is Celtic for “dwelling.”
Coventry Street. From the residence of Henry Coventry, Secretary of State, temp. Charles II.
Cowcross Street. Where the cattle crossed the brook in days when this now congested neighbourhood was pleasant pasture land watered by the “River of Wells.”
Coxcomb. A vain, empty-pated individual. So called from the cock’s comb worn on the cap by the licensed jesters, because they were allowed to crow over their betters.
Cracker. Although the origin of this term when applied to a juvenile firework would appear to be self-evident, it is really a corruption of Cracque, the Norman description of “Greek Fire.”
Crackers. The people of Georgia, owing, it is said, to the unintelligibility of their speech.
Cranbourn Street. From the long, narrow stream of this name, when the whole district hereabouts was open fields.
Crank. One whose notions of things are angular, eccentric, or crooked. His ideas do not run in a straight line.
Cravat. Introduced into Western Europe by the Cravates or Croatians in the seventeenth century.
69Craven Street. From the residence of Lord Craven prior to his removal to Drury House in Drury Lane.
Cream City. Milwaukee, from the cream-coloured bricks of which its houses are built.
Credit Draper. The modern designation of a “Tallyman.”
Cree Church. See “St Katherine Cree.”
Creed Lane. Where the monks recited the Credo in procession to St Paul’s. See “Ave Maria Lane.”
Cremorne Gardens. Laid out on the site of the mansion and grounds of Thomas Dawson, Lord Cremorne.
Creole State. Louisiana. In New Orleans particularly a Creole is a native of French extraction.
Crescent City. New Orleans, built in the form of a crescent.
Crimea. From the Kimri or Cymri who settled in the peninsula.
Cripplegate. From the city gate around which gathered cripples begging for alms, the neighbouring church being dedicated to St Giles, their patron.
Crokers. Potatoes, because first raised in Croker’s Field at Youghal, Ireland.
Cromwell Road. From the mansion and grounds of Richard Cromwell, son of the Lord Protector.
Crop Clubs. Clubs formed to evade Mr Pitt’s tax on hair powder. The Times thus noticed one of the earliest in its issue of 14th April 1795: “A numerous Club has been formed in Lambeth called the ‘Crop Club,’ every member of which is obliged to have his hair docked as close as the Duke of Bridgewater’s old bay horses. This assemblage is instituted for the purpose of opposing, or rather evading, the tax on powdered heads.”
Cross Keys. A common inn sign throughout Yorkshire, from the arms of the Archbishop of York.
70Crowd. Theatrical slang for members of a company collectively.
Crow over him. A cock always crows over a vanquished opponent in a fight.
Crutched Friars. Friars of the Holy Trinity, so called from the embroidered cross on their habits (Latin, cruciati, crossed). Their London house was located in the thoroughfare named after them.
Cuba. The native name of the island when Columbus discovered it.
Cully. A slang term applied to a man, mate, or companion. Its origin is the Romany cuddy, from the Persian gudda, an ass.
Cumberland. The land of the Cymri.
Cupboard. See “Dresser.”
Curaçoa. A liqueur first prepared at the West Indian island of the same name.
Currants. First brought from Corinth.
Cursitor Street. From the Cursitors’ Office that stood here. The Cursitors were clerks of Chancery, but anciently choristers, just as the Lord Chancellor himself was an ecclesiastic.
Curtain Road. From the “Curtain Theatre,” where Ben Jonson’s “Every Man in his Humour” was put on the stage.
Curzon Street. From George Augustus Curzon, created Viscount Howe, the ground landlord.
Cuspidor. The American term for a spittoon, derived from the Spanish escupidor, a spitter.
Cut me to the Quick. The quick of one’s fingers when cut into is most alive or sensitive to pain. See “Quicksilver.”
Cutpurse. A thief who, in days before pockets came into vogue, had no difficulty in cutting the strings with which a purse was suspended from the girdle.
71Cut the Line. A printer’s expression for knocking off work. Formerly compositors finished the line they were composing; nowadays Trades Unionism has made them so particular that they leave off in the middle of a line on the first stroke of the bell.
Cypress. A tree introduced to Western Europe from the island of Cyprus.
Cyprus. From kupras, the Greek name for a herb which grew on the island in profusion.
D
Dachshund. German for “badger-dog.”
Daffodil. An English corruption of the French d’Asphodel.
Dagonet. The pseudonym of Mr George R. Sims in The Referee, after the jester at the Court of King Arthur.
Daguerreotype. An early process of photography discovered by L. J. M. Daguerre.
Dahlgreen Gun. After its inventor, an officer in the United States Navy.
Dahlia. Introduced to Europe from Mexico in 1784 by Andrew Dahl, the Swedish botanist.
Daisy. From the Anglo-Saxon dæges eye, or “day’s eye,” on account of its sunlike appearance.
Dakota. From the Dacoits, a tribe of Indians found there.
Dale Road. From the residence of Canon Dale, poet, and Vicar of St Pancras.
Dalmatian. A species of dog bred in Dalmatia.
Dalston. The town in the dale when the north of London was more or less wooded.
Damage. See “What’s the Damage?”
Damascenes. From Damascus, famous for its plums.
Damascus. From the Arabic name of the city, Dimiskesh-Shâm.
72Damascus Blade. From Damascus, a city world famous for the temper of its sword blades.
Damask. First made at Damascus in Syria.
Damask Rose. Introduced to Europe from Damascus.
Damassin. A Damask cloth interwoven with flowers of gold or silver.
Dame School. The old name for a girls’ school taught by a spinster or dame.
Damsons. Properly Damascenes, from Damascus.
Dancing Chancellor. Sir Christopher Hatton so pleased Queen Elizabeth by his dancing at a Court masque that she made him a Knight of the Garter; subsequently he became Lord Chancellor of England.
Dandelion. A corruption of the French dent de lion, from its fancied resemblance to a lion’s tooth.
Dandy. From the French dandin, silly fellow, ninny.
Dantzic. Expresses the town settled by the Danes.
Danvers Street. From Danvers House, in which resided Sir John Danvers, to whom the introduction of the Italian style of horticulture in England was due.
Darbies. A pair of handcuffs, in allusion to Darby and Joan, who were inseparable.
Dardanelles. After the city on the Asiatic side founded by Dardanus, the ancestor of Priam, the last king of Troy.
Dark and Bloody Ground. Kentucky, the great battle-ground of the Indians and white settlers, as also that of the savage tribes amongst themselves.
Darmstadt. The stadt, or town, on the Darm.
Dartford. From the Saxon Darentford, the fort on the Darent.
Dartmoor. The moor in which the River Dart takes its rise.
Dartmouth. On the estuary of the River Dart.
73Dauphin. The title borne by the eldest son of the King of France until 1830, from the armorial device of a delphinus, or dolphin.
Davenport. After the original maker.
Davies Street. After Mary Davies, heiress of the manor of Ebury, Pimlico.
Davis Strait. After the navigator who discovered it.
Davy Jones’s Locker. Properly “Duffy Jonah’s Locker.” Duffy is the ghost of the West Indian Negroes; Jonah, the prophet cast into the sea; and “locker,” the ordinary seaman’s chest.
D. D. Cellars. See “Dirty Dick’s.”
Dead as a Door Nail. The reflection that, if a man were to be knocked on the head as often as is the “nail” on which a door knocker rests, he would have very little life left in him, easily accounts for this saying.
Dead Beat. Prostrate from fatigue, incapable of further exertion. Also the name of an American drink of whisky and ginger-soda after a hard night’s carousal.
Deadheads. In America persons who enjoy the right of travelling on a railway system at the public expense; in this country actors and pseudo “professionals,” who pass into places of amusement without paying. The origin of the term is as follows:–More than sixty years ago all the principal avenues of the city of Delaware converged to a toll gate at the entrance to the Elmwood Cemetery Road. The cemetery having been laid out long prior to the construction of the plank road beyond the toll gate, funerals were allowed to pass through the latter toll free. One day as Dr Price, a well-known physician, stopped to pay his toll he observed to the gatekeeper: “Considering the benevolent character of the profession to which I have the honour to belong, I think you ought to let me pass toll free.” “No, no, doctor,” the man replied; “we can’t afford that. You send too many deadheads through here as it is!” The story travelled, and the term “Deadheads” became fixed.
74Dead Reckoning. Calculating a ship’s whereabouts at sea from the log-book without aid from the celestial bodies.
Dead Sea. Traditionally on the site of the city of Sodom. Its waters are highly saline, and no fish are found in them.
Dean Street. After Bishop Compton, who, before he became Dean of the Savoy Chapel, held the living of St Anne’s, Soho.
Dean’s Yard. Affords access to the residence of the Dean of Westminster, which, with the cloisters, belonged to the abbots prior to the Reformation.
Death or Glory Men. The 17th Lancers, from their badge, a Death’s head superposed on the words “Or Glory.”
De Beauvoir Town. From the manorial residence of the De Beauvoirs.
Deccan. From the Sanskrit Dakshina, the south, being that portion of Hindustan south of the Vindhya Mountains.
December. The tenth month of the Roman Calendar when the year was reckoned from March.
Decemvir. One of the ten legislators of Rome appointed to draw up a code of laws.
Decoration Day. 30th May, observed in the United States for decorating the graves of the soldiers who fell in the struggle between the North and South.
Deemster. See “Doomster.”
Dehaley Street. From the residence of the Dehaleys.
Delaware. After the Governor of Virginia, Thomas West, Lord Delaware, who died on board his vessel while visiting the bay in 1610.
Del Salviati. The assumed name of the famous Italian painter Francesco Rossi, in compliment to his patron, Cardinal Salviati, who was born in the same year as himself.
Demijohn. A corruption of Damaghan, in Persia, a town anciently famous for its glass-ware.
75Democracy. From the Greek demos, people, and kratein, to rule. Government by the people.
Denbigh. From Dinbach, the Celtic for “a little fort.”
Denmark. Properly Danmark, the mark or boundary of the land of the Danes.
Depot. The American term for a railway station.
Deptford. The deep ford over the Ravensbourne.
Derby. Saxon for “deer village.” The Derby stakes at Epsom were founded by Edward Smith Stanley, Earl of Derby, in 1780.
Derrick. The old name for a gibbet and now for a high crane. So called after a seventeenth-century hangman at Tyburn.
Derry Down. The opening words of the Druidical chorus as they proceeded to the sacred grove to gather mistletoe at the winter solstice. Derry is Celtic for “grove.”
Dessborough Place. From Dessbrowe House, in which resided the brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell.
Detroit. French for “strait.”
Deuteronomy. A Greek word signifying the second giving of the Law by Moses.
Devereaux Court. See “Essex Street.”
Devil’s Sonata. One of Tartini’s most celebrated compositions. He dreamt that the Evil One appeared to him playing a sonata on the violin. At its conclusion his visitor asked: “Tartini, canst thou play this?” Awaking with his mind still full of the grotesque music, Tartini played it over, and then recorded it permanently on paper.
Devil to Pay. When money was lost by unsuccessful litigation it passed into the hands of lawyers, who were thought to spend it where they spent much of their time–viz. at the Devil Tavern in Fleet Street. The money, therefore, went to the Devil.
76Devizes. From the Latin Devisæ, denoting the point where the old Roman road passed into the district of the Celts.
Devon. After a Celtic tribe, the Damnonii.
Devonshire House. The town house of the Duke of Devonshire.
Devonshire Square. From the mansion of William Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire, who died here in 1628.
Diamond King. The late Mr Alfred Beit, the South African financier, whose wealth rivalled that of the Rothschilds.
Dickey. A shirt front, which often has to do duty for a clean shirt. So called from the German decken, to hide.
Diddler. A schemer, an artful dodger. After Jeremy Diddler, the chief character in the old farce, “Raising the Wind.”
Die Hards. The 57th Foot. When the regiment was surrounded at Albuera, their Colonel cried: “Die hard, my lads; die hard!” And fighting, they died.
Digger Indians. Tribes of the lowest class who live principally upon roots. They have never been known to hunt.
Diggings. A Bohemian term for “lodgings.” Not from the Californian gold diggings, as generally supposed, but from the Galena lead miners of Wisconsin, who called both their mines and their underground winter habitations “diggings.”
Dime. A ten-cent piece, from the French dixme, or dîme, tenth–i.e. of a dollar.
Dimity. First brought from Damietta, Egypt.
Dine with Duke Humphrey. An old saying of those who were fated to go dinnerless. When the “Good Duke Humphrey,” son of Henry IV., was buried at St Albans, a monument to his memory was to be erected in St Paul’s Cathedral. At that time, as for long afterwards, the nave of our national fane was 77a fashionable promenade. When the promenaders left for dinner, others who had no dinners to go to explained that they would stay behind in order to look for the Good Duke’s monument.
Dining-room Servant. An Americanism for waiter or male house servant.
Diorama. See “Panorama.”
Dirty Dick’s. The noted tavern in Bishopgate, said to have been associated with Nathaniel Bentley, the miser, who never washed himself. As a matter of fact, Dirty Dick was an ironmonger in Leadenhall Street. After his death his effects were bought and exhibited at the Bishopgate tavern, together with his portrait as a sign.
Dirty Shirts. The 101st Foot, who were hotly engaged at the battle of Delhi in their shirt sleeves.
Dissenters. Synonymous with the Nonconformists. Those who dissented from the doctrines of the Church of England and those likewise who, at a later period, separated from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Distaffs’ Day. The old name for 7th January, when, Christmas being over with Twelfth Night, women returned to their distaffs or spindles.
Divan. A Turkish word signifying a Council of State, from the fact that the Turkish Council Chamber has low couches ranged round its walls, plentifully supplied with cushions. The name has been imported into Western Europe specifically to imply a low-cushioned sofa or couch.
Dixie’s Land. The Negroes’ paradise in slavery days. Dixie had a tract of land on Manhattan Island. He treated his slaves well, but as they increased sold many of them off to masters further afield. They always looked back to Dixie’s Land as an ideal locality, associated with heaven, and when one of them died his kith and kin said he had gone to Dixie’s Land.
Dizzy. The nickname of Benjamin Disraeli, afterwards 78Earl of Beaconsfield, the great political opponent of Mr Gladstone.
Doctor. There are three kinds of Doctors–of Law, Physic, and Divinity. The first and the last are essentially University degrees, with which the vulgar orders of the people have little or no acquaintance. They know only of one “Doctor,” the medical practitioner, and since he wears a frock coat and a silk hat he is entitled to all the respect that they can pay him.
Doctors’ Commons. Anciently a college for Professors of Canon and Civil Law, who dined in common on certain days in each term, similar to students at the Inns of Court before they are called to the Bar.
Dog and Duck. A tavern sign indicative of the old sport of duck hunting by spaniels in a pond.
Dog-cart. Originally one in which sportsmen drove their pointers and setters to the field.
Dog his Footsteps. To follow close to his heels like a dog.
Dog in the Manger. From the old story told of the dog who did not require the hay for himself, yet refused to allow the ox to come near it.
Dog Rose. From the old idea that the root of this rose-tree was an antidote for the bite of a mad dog.
Dog Watch. A corruption of “Dodge Watch,” being a watch of two hours only instead of four, by which dodging seamen gradually shift their watch on successive days.
Dolgelley. Celtic for “dale of hazels.”
Dollar. From the German Thaler, originally Joachims-Thaler, the silver out of which this coin was struck having been found in the Thal or Valley of St Joachim in Bohemia.
Dollars and Dimes. An Americanism for money generally. See “Dime.”
Dolly Shop. The old name for a rag shop which had a 79black doll over the door for a sign. At one time old clothes were shipped to the Negroes in the southern states of America.
Dolly Varden. The name of a flowered skirt, answering to the description of that worn by Dolly Varden in Dickens’s “Barnaby Rudge.” This dress material became very popular after the novel was published. It also gave rise to a song, of which the burden was: “Dressed in a Dolly Varden.”
Dolphin. A gold coin introduced by Charles V. of France, also Dauphin of Vienne.
Dominica. Expresses the Spanish for Sunday, the day on which Columbus discovered this island.
Dominicans. Friars of the Order of St Dominic; also called Black Friars, from their habits.
Dominoes. A game invented by two French monks, who amused themselves with square, flat stones marked with spots. The winner declared his victory by reciting the first line of the Vesper service: “Dixit Dominus Domino Meo.” When, later, the game became the recreation of the whole convent, the Vesper line was abbreviated into “Domino,” and the stones themselves received the name of “Dominoes.”
Don. A corruption of the Celtic tain, river.
Donatists. A sect of the fourth century, adherents of Donatus, Bishop of Numidia.
Doncaster St Leger. The stakes at Doncaster races founded by Colonel Anthony St Leger in 1776.
Donegal. Gaelic for the “fortress of the west”–viz. Donegal Castle, held by the O’Donnels of Tyrconnel.
Donet. The old name for a Grammar, after Donatus, the grammarian and preceptor of St Jerome.
Donkey. An ass, from its dun colour.
Don’t care a Dam. When this expression first obtained currency a dam was the smallest Hindoo coin, not worth an English farthing.
80Don’t care a Jot. See “Iota.”
Doomster. The official in the Scottish High Court who pronounced the doom to the prisoner, and also acted as executioner. In Jersey and the Isle of Man a judge is styled a “Deemster.”
Dope Habit. An Americanism for the morphia habit. “Dope” is the Chinese word for opium. This in the United States is now applied to all kinds of strong drugs or bromides prepared from opium.
Dorcas Society. From the passage in Acts ix. 39: “And all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them.”
Dorchester. The Roman camp in the district of the Dwr-trigs or water dwellers. See “Dorset.”
Dorset. The Anglo-Saxon Dwrset, or water settlement, so called from the British tribe the Dwr-trigs, “water dwellers,” who peopled it.
Dorset Square. After Viscount Portman, the ground landlord, who, before he was raised to the peerage, was for many years Member for Dorsetshire.
Dorset Street. From the mansion and grounds of the Earl of Dorset of the Restoration period. Here stood also the Dorset Gardens Theatre.
Doss. Slang for a sleep, a shakedown. From the old word dossel, a bundle of hay or straw, whence was derived Doss, a straw bed.
Doss-house. A common lodging-house. See “Doss.”
Douay Bible. The Old Testament translation of the Latin Vulgate printed at the English College at Douay, France, in 1609.
Doublet. So called because it was double lined or wadded, originally for purposes of defence.
Douglas. From its situation at the juncture of the two streams, the Dhoo, black, and Glass, grey.
Douro. From the Celtic Dwr, water.
81Dover House. The residence of the Hon. George Agar Ellis, afterwards Lord Dover.
Dover Street. After Henry Jermyn, Lord Dover, who died at his residence here in 1782.
Dowager. The widow of a person of high rank, because she enjoyed a substantial dower or dowry for her maintenance during life.
Dowgate. From the Celtic Dwr, water. Hence a water gate on the north bank of the Thames.
Downing Street. From the mansion of Sir George Downing, M.P., of the Restoration period.
Down with the Dust. A gold miner’s expression in the Far West, where money is scarce and necessary commodities are in general bartered for with gold dust.
Doyley. From the Brothers Doyley, linen drapers in the Strand, who introduced this species of table napery.
Do your Level Best. This expression means that, while striving to the utmost you must also act strictly straightforward.
Drachenfels. German for “dragon rocks.” Here Siegfried, the hero of the Niebelungenlied, slew the dragon.
Draft on Aldgate Pump. A punning phrase for a worthless bill or cheque.
Draggletail. A slovenly woman who allows her skirts to draggle or trail in the mire of the street.
Dragoman. From the Turkish drukeman, an interpreter. A dragoman is in the East what a “Cicerone” is in Italy and elsewhere in Western Europe.
Dragoons. From the ancient musket called a dragon, or “spitfire.” The muzzle was embellished with a representation of a dragon.
Draper. One who dealt in cloth for draping only, as distinct from a mercer, milliner, or mantle-maker.
Drapers’ Gardens. The property of the Drapers’ Company, whose hall is situated here.
82Drat it. A corruption of “Odd rot it,” from the old oath, “God rot them.”
Drawer. The old name for an inn or tavern keeper’s assistant, who drew the beer from the casks.
Drawing-room. Originally “Withdrawing-room” to which the ladies withdrew after dinner while the gentlemen sat over their wine.
Draw it mild. Originally a tavern phrase, when anyone preferred ordinary ale to hot spiced liquor.
Draw the Long Bow. In allusion to the exaggerated skill of the English archers prior to the introduction of gunpowder.
Dress Circle. That portion of a theatre which, before the introduction of stalls, was set apart for the superior sections of the audience.
Dressed up to the Knocker. To the extreme height of his resources. Before the establishment of the modern police system door knockers were placed as high as possible to prevent them from being wrenched off by sportive wags after nightfall.
Dresser. The kitchen sideboard, on which the meat was dressed before serving it up in the dining-chamber. The collection of cups, plates, and dishes which distinguishes a dresser originally had a place on a wide shelf or board over this meat dresser; hence cup-board.
Drinks like a Fish. Ready to swallow any quantity of liquor that may be offered. A great many fish have their mouths wide open whilst swimming.
Drive a Bargain. An expression meaning to knock down the original price asked, in punning allusion to “driving” a nail.
Drop o’ the Crater. See “Mountain Dew.”
Druid. In the Celtic Derwydd, derived from dewr, oak, and gwydd, knowledge. A priest who worshipped and offered sacrifices under an oak.
83Drum. The name for a fashionable evening party of bygone days, from the noise made by the card players.
Drummers. An Americanism for commercial travellers, who are engaged in beating up trade.
Drunkard’s Cloak. A large wooden crinoline that hung from a drunkard’s neck to the ground, causing every bone in his body to ache owing to the weight resting on his shoulders. The instrument resembled an inverted flower pot, having a hole in the top for his head to be thrust through. Under this drastic treatment he soon became sober.
Drunk as a Fiddler. The fiddler was generally incapable of discoursing further music half way through the night’s jollification, because the dancers freely plied him with drink.
Drunk as a Lord. When George the Third was King, and long afterwards, the fine old English gentleman acted up to his character by using strong language and imbibing strong potations. To be “drunk as a lord” was the surest mark of gentility, and a “three bottle man” a pattern of sobriety. After dining it was considered no disgrace to roll helplessly under the table.
Drury Lane. From Drury House, the residence of Sir William Drury, temp. William III.
Dublin. From Dubh-linn, “black pool.”
Dub Up. An expression derived from the very general custom of dubbing or touching a man on the shoulder when arresting him for debt.
Ducat. Duke’s money, anciently struck in the Duchy of Apulia, Sicily.
Duchess Street. After Lady Cavendish, who became the wife of the second Duke of Portland.
Ducking Stool. An instrument for the punishment of scolding wives. This public ducking in a pond effectually served to cool their temper for the time being.
84Duck’s Foot Lane. Properly “Duke’s Foot Lane,” the footway leading from the town house of the Earls of Suffolk down to the Thames.
Dude. An American name for a fop, derived from a very old English word, “dudes,” whence we have the slang term “Duds,” for clothes.
Dudley. From the castle built by Dodo, a Saxon prince, and ley, “meadow.”
Duds. See “Dude.”
Dug-out. A Far West Americanism for a boat or canoe hewn out of a large tree log.
Dukeries. That portion of Nottinghamshire distinguished for the number of ducal residences, of which Welbeck Abbey is perhaps the most admired.
Duke Street. In Aldgate, after the Dukes of Norfolk. Near Smithfield, the ancient property of the Dukes of Brittany. In Grosvenor Square, after the Duke of Cumberland. Off Langham Place, after the Duke of Portland. Near Manchester Square, after the Duke of Manchester. In the Strand, after George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.
Dulwich. The corruption of Dalewich, the village in the dale.
Duma. Russian for Parliament or popular representation.
Dumb Ox. One of the sobriquets of St Thomas Aquinas, from the silence with which he pursued his studies. His master, Albertus Magnus, however, predicted that “this dumb ox will one day fill the world with his bellowing.”
Dumping. A word which has come into prominence relative to Mr Chamberlain’s Fiscal Policy. In various forms the verb dump may be met with in Teutonic and Scandinavian tongues, meaning to “pitch down,” “throw down in a lump,” etc. etc. A “Dump Cart” in America is one that tilts up in front, and so “dumps” its load behind.
85Dun. A persistent creditor. After Joe Dun, a noted bailiff, who never failed to bring a debtor to book. People used to say: “Why don’t you Dun him for the debt?” meaning they would send Joe Dun to make him pay or arrest him.
Dunce. From John Duns Scotus, who, it is said, gave no proof of his remarkable attainments in his early scholastic days.
Dundee. A corruption of Duntay, the hill fort on the Tay.
Dunedin. See “Edinburgh.”
Dungeness. A corruption of Danger Ness, the Headland of Danger.
Dunkirk. Expresses the “Church in the Dunes,” or sand-hills, built by St Eloi in the seventh century.
Durham. A corruption of Dunholm, from its situation on a hill surrounded by the river.
Dusseldorf. The village on the Dussel.
Dutchman. A contemptuous epithet applied to our phlegmatic enemies during the wars with Holland.
Dyers’ Buildings. The site of an ancient almshouse of the Dyers’ Company.
E
Eagle. An inn sign, the cognisance of Queen Mary.
Earl Street. After Charles Marsham, Earl of Romney.
Earl’s Court. From the Earl of Warwick, whose estate it was until, by the marriage of the Dowager Countess of Warwick with Lord Holland, it passed into her husband’s family.
East Anglia. A name still popular as defining the eastern counties. This was one of the seven divisions or petty kingdoms of England under the Angles or Saxons.
86Eastcheap. The eastern chepe, or market, of the city of London.
Easter. From the Teutonic Ostara, goddess of light or spring; rendered by the Anglo-Saxons Eastre. This great spring festival lasted eight days.
Easter Island. The name given to it by Jacob Roggevin when he visited the island on Easter Sunday, 1722.
East Sheen. A name reminiscent of the original designation of “Richmond.”
Eat Dirt. An Americanism for a confession of penitence or absolute defeat in an argument.
Eat Humble Pie. In the days of sumptuous banquets of venison the lords of the feast reserved to themselves the flesh of the deer. The huntsmen and retainers had to be content with the heart, liver, and entrails, collectively called the “umbles,” which were made into monster pies.
Eat my own Words. To take them back again, to retract a statement.
Eaton Square. From Eaton Hall, near Chester, the seat of the Duke of Westminster, the ground landlord.
Eau de Cologne. A scent prepared at Cologne. The city itself is not sweet to the nostrils; it has been said that forty different smells may be distinguished there.
Eavesdropper. A corruption of Eavesdripper, one who, listening under the eaves of a house, caught the drips from the roof when it chanced to be raining.
Ebro. After the Iberi, who spread themselves over the country from the banks of this river. See “Iberia.”
Ebury Square. From the ancient manor of Eabury Farm, inherited by Mary Davies, and which, by her marriage, passed into the possession of the Grosvenor family.
Eccleston Square. From Eccleston, Cheshire, the country seat of the Grosvenors.
Ecuador. Expresses the Spanish for Equator.
87Edgar Atheling. Signifies “Edgar of noble descent.”
Edinburgh. The fortress or burgh built by Edwin, King of Northumbria. The Scots called it Dunedin.
Edinburgh of America. Albany, in the state of New York, so called on account of its magnificent public buildings and its commanding situation.
Edmonton. In Anglo-Saxon days Edmund’s Town.
Edmund Ironside. So called from the suit of chain mail that he wore. Notwithstanding this protection he was treacherously murdered after a reign of nine months only.
Edward the Confessor. The title bestowed upon the King of the Anglo-Saxons at his canonisation, on account of his remarkable asceticism, since, although he made the daughter of Earl Godwin his queen, he denied himself what are styled conjugal rights.
Edward the Martyr. Murdered at the instance of his stepmother at Corfe Castle after having reigned scarcely three years.
Eel Pie Island. From the invariable dinner dish served up to river excursionists.
Effra Road. At Camberwell, from the little river of the same name, now converted into a sewer.
Egalité. The name assumed by Philippe, Duc d’Orleans, the father of Louis Philippe, King of France, when, siding with the Republican Party in 1789, he accepted their motto: “Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality.” Four years later he met his death by the guillotine.
Ehrenbreitstein. Expresses the German for “Honour’s Broad Stone.” The castle stands on a precipitous rock, which well merits the description of the “Gibraltar of the Rhine.”
Eisteddfod. Celtic for a gathering of Welsh bards, from eistodd, to sit. As of old, the annual “Eisteddfod” is held for the encouragement of national music.
88Eldorado. California. Eldorado expresses the Spanish for “golden region.”
Electic Philosophers. Those who, agreeably to the Greek ek-lego, to pick out, selected what was best in the different schools or systems, and so built up one of their own.
Elephant and Castle. The famous landmark in South London derived its sign from the arms of the Cutlers’ Company. A tavern in St Pancras parish took its sign from the skeleton of an elephant, beside which was a flint-headed spear, dug up in the neighbourhood. The connection between these and the battle fought by the followers of Queen Boadicea against the Roman invaders was unmistakable.
Elephant stepped on his Purse. An Americanism implying that a creditor or some unlucky speculation has squeezed all the money out of a man.
Elgin Marbles. Brought from Greece by the seventh Earl of Elgin. Acquired by the nation for the British Museum in 1816.
Elia. The pseudonym of Charles Lamb for his “Essays” contributed to The London Magazine. This was the name of a gay, light-hearted foreigner, who fluttered about the South Sea House at the time when Lamb was a clerk there. At the moment of penning his signature to the first essay he bethought himself of that person, and substituted the name of Elia for his own.
Eltham. Anciently Ealdham, “the old home.” Here Anthony Bec, the “Battling Bishop of Durham,” built himself a palace midway in the thirteenth century. After his death it fell to the Crown, and became a Royal residence, until the time of James I. The original Banqueting-Hall, used in modern days as a barn, may yet be seen.
Ely Place. Marks the site of the residence of the Bishops of Ely.
89Ember Days. This term has no connection with embers or sackcloth and ashes as a penitential observance. The Saxons called them Ymbrine dagas, or “running days,” because they came round at regular seasons of the year.
Emerald Isle. Ireland, from its fresh verdure, due to its shores being washed by the warm waters of the “Gulf Stream.”
Empire Day. May 24th, formerly the Queen’s Birthday. In the last days of Victoria the British Empire was consolidated through the assistance lent by the Colonies to the Mother Country in the South African War. When, therefore, King Edward VII. came to the throne, the former Queen’s Birthday was invested with a greater significance than of old.
Empire State. New York, which, owing to position and commercial enterprise, has no rival among the other states of the Union.
Empire State of the South. Georgia, in consequence of its rapid industrial development.
Ena Road. In honour of Princess Ena, the consort of the young King of Spain.
Encore. From the Latin hauc horam, till this hour, still, again.
Encyclopædia. A book containing general or all-round instruction or information, from the Greek enkylios, circular or general, and paideia, instruction. An epitome of the whole circle of learning.
Endell Street. After the name of the builder. This is one of the few streets in London that has preserved its old characteristics, steadfastly refusing to march with the times.
England. In the time of Alfred the Great our country was styled Engaland, or the land of the Engles or Angles, who came over from Jutland.
Englishman’s House is his Castle. By the law of the land a bailiff must effect a peaceable entrance in order to 90distrain upon a debtor’s goods; therefore the latter is, as it were, sufficiently secure in his own fortress if he declines to give the enemy admittance.
Ennis. Expresses in Ireland, like Innis, the Celtic for an island. Both these words enter largely into Irish place-names.
Enniskillen. The kirk town on an island, the Celtic kil, originally implying a hermit’s cell, and later a chapel.
Ennismore Place. After Viscount Ennismore, Earl of Listowel, the ground landlord.
Enough is as good as a Feast. Because at no time can a person eat more than enough.
Enrol. See “Roll Call.”
Entente Cordiale. Expresses the French for cordial good will.
Entire. A word still to be met with on old tavern signs. It meant different qualities of ale or beer drawn from one cask.
Entrées. French for entries or commencements. Those made dishes are served after the soups, as an introduction to the more substantial portions of the repast, the joints.
Epicure. After Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, who taught that pleasure and good living constituted the happiness of mankind. His followers were styled Epicureans.
Epiphany. From the Greek Epiphaneia, an appearance, a showing; relative to the adoration of the Magi, who came from the East twelve days after the birth of the Saviour.
Epsom Salts. From the mineral springs at Epsom.
Equality State. Wyoming, where, first among the communities of the world, women were accorded the right to vote.
Erie. Indian for “Wild Cat,” the fierce tribe exterminated by the Iroquois.
91Escurial. Properly Escorial, Spanish for “among the rocks.” King Philip II. built this superb convent and palace after the battle of St Quentin, in the course of which he had been obliged to bombard a monastery of the Order of St Jerome. He dedicated it to St Lawrence. He caused the structure to be in the form of a gridiron, the symbol of the Saint’s martyrdom.
Esk. A river name derived from the Celtic uisg, water.
Esquimaux. An Alonquin Indian term signifying “eaters of raw flesh.”
Essex. The kingdom of the East Saxons under the Heptarchy.
Essex Street. From the mansion of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, the Parliamentary General in Cromwell’s time.
Ethelred the Unready. From his incapacity and unwillingness to accept rede, or counsel.
Ethiopia. From the Greek aithein, to burn, and ops, the face. Hence “the country of the blacks.”
Etiquette. A French word for “label.” Formerly a ticket or card of instructions was handed to visitors on ceremonial occasions. Nowadays such rules as pertain to deportment or decorum are supposed to enter into the education of all well-bred persons.
Etna. From the Phœnician attuna, a furnace.
Eton. The Anglo-Saxon Eyton, “island town.”
Ettrick Shepherd. The literary sobriquet of James Hogg, the poet, of Ettrick, Selkirkshire.
Europe. From the Greek euros, broad, and ops, the face; literally “the broad face of the earth.”
Euston Road. From the seat of the Earl of Euston at Thetford, Norfolk, the ground landlord.
Evacuation Day. November 25th, observed in the United States as commemorating the evacuation of New York city by the British after the War of Independence, 1783.
92Evangelist. From the Greek euanggelion, “good news.” One of the four writers of the Gospels of the New Testament.
Evelyn Street. From the residence of John Evelyn, the diarist. One of his descendants, the Rev. W. J. Evelyn, of Wolton, built the church of St Luke, Deptford, in 1872.
Everglade State. Florida, from its tracts of land, covered with water and grass, called Everglades.
Ex. Another form of the Celtic uisg, water.
Exchequer. The table of this Court was formerly covered with checkered cloth, so called from the Old French eschequier, chess board.
Executive City. Washington, which contains the White House, the official residence of the President of the Republic, the House of Representatives, and the Senate Chamber.
Exellers. The 40th Foot, from the Roman numerals XL.
Exeter. Called by the Saxons Exancester, or the Roman camp town on the Exe.
Exeter College. Founded at Oxford by Walter Stapleton, Bishop of Exeter and Lord Treasurer of England, in 1316.
Exeter Street. From the mansion and grounds of the Earl of Exeter, the eldest son of the great Lord Burleigh.
Exhibition Road. This wide thoroughfare formed the eastern boundary of the plot of ground purchased by the Commissioners for the Great Exhibition of 1862.
Exodus. The Scriptural narrative of the departure of the Israelites from the Land of Bondage.
Eye. Expresses the Anglo-Saxon for island. The river Waveney surrounds the town.
Eye-opener. An American drink of mixed spirits as a remedy for drowsiness.
93
F
Face the Music. To bear the jeers and taunts of those who laugh at us.
Factory King. Richard Oastler of Bradford, the promoter of the “Ten Hours’ Bill.”
Fag. Slang for a cigarette, derived from the fag end–i.e. fatigued or spent end–of a cigar. Also a small boy who acts as a drudge in the service of another at a public school, so called from the Anglo-Saxon fæge, weak, timid.
Fair Cop. Thieves’ slang for a smart capture by the police. Whereas another would say “The game’s up!” a thief admits that he has been fairly caught by the expression “It’s a fair cop.” See “Cop.”
Fair Maid of Kent. Joan, the beautiful and only daughter of the Earl of Kent, who became the wife of Edward the Black Prince.
Fair Street. A name left us as a reminder of a once celebrated fair on the Southwark bank of the Thames.
Faith Healers. A sect which upholds the doctrine of healing the sick by prayer and anointing with oil in the name of the Lord, as set forth in James v. 13-15.
Faix. An Irishman’s exclamation for “Faith” or “In Faith.”
Fake. To make-believe or cheat. An actor is said to “fake up” an article of costume out of very sorry materials, which at a distance looks like the real thing. A photographer can “fake” a spirit photo by means of two distinct plates. Food also is largely “faked.” The word is derived from “Fakir.”
Fakir. From the Arabic fakhar, poor.
Falcon Square. From an ancient hostelry, “The Castle and Falcon,” hard by in Aldersgate Street.
Falernian. A celebrated wine, extolled by Horace, Virgil, 94and other Latin authors, prepared from grapes grown in the district of Falernicum.
Fall. An Americanism for autumn, in allusion to the fall of the leaves.
Fallopian Tubes. Said to have been discovered by Gabriel Fallopius, the eminent Italian anatomist of the sixteenth century. They were, however, known to the ancients.
Falls City. Louisville, in the state of Kentucky, because it overlooks the falls of the Ohio River.
Falmouth. A seaport at the mouth of the Fale.
Family Circle. This expression had a literal meaning in the time of the Normans, when the fire occupied the centre of the floor, and the smoke found its vent through a hole in the roof. In Germany and Russia the domestic apartments are economically warmed by an enclosed stove in the centre. Amongst ourselves the phrase “sit round the fire” only conveys a half-truth.
Fancy Drink. An Americanism for a concoction of various spirits, as distinguished from a Straight Drink of one kind.
Fandago. Spanish for a “lively dance.”
Farmer George. George III., on account of his dress, manners, and bucolic sporting inclinations.
Farm Street. From an old farm, on the land of Lord Berkeley of Stratton in the time of Charles I.
Faro. So called from a representation of Pharaoh on one of the cards originally.
Farringdon Road. After William Farringdon, citizen and goldsmith, who, for the sum of twenty marks, in 1279 purchased the Aldermanry of the ward named after him.
Farthing. From the Anglo-Saxon feorthling, a little fourth. In olden times penny pieces were nicked across like a 95Good Friday bun; so they could be broken into halves and fourths as occasion required.
Farthingale. A corruption of Verdingale, from the French vertugarde, a guard for modesty. Queen Elizabeth is said to have introduced this hooped petticoat in order to disguise her figure.
Farthing Poet. The sobriquet of Richard Horne, who published his chief poem, “Orion,” at one farthing, so that it should not want for buyers.
Fastern’s E’en. The Scottish description of Shrove Tuesday, being the eve of the Lenten Fast.
Father of Believers. Mohammed, because he established and promulgated the faith of the Moslem, or “true believers.”
Father of the Music Halls. The late William Morton, manager of the Palace Theatre of Varieties, and founder of the earliest London Music Hall, “The Canterbury,” in the Westminster Bridge Road, which dates from the year 1848.
Fathers of the Church. The great doctors or theological writers of the period from the first to the seventh centuries of Christianity. See “Apostolic Fathers.”
Faugh-a-Ballagh Boys. The 87th Foot, from their battle cry.
Feast of Lanterns. A Chinese festival which occurs on the fifteenth day of the first moon of the year. Walking by the side of a beautiful lake one night the daughter of a mandarin fell in, and was drowned. When her father heard of the accident he, attended by all his household, carrying lanterns, rushed to the spot. On the anniversary he caused fires to be lighted beside the lake, and invited all the people of the country round about to offer up prayers for the safety of her soul. In course of time the solemn character of the gathering was forgotten, and the day has ever since been observed as a national holiday.