tirely, completely, wholly, perfectly, quite. It is the travesty that has made the term unseemly and absurd. PLUM. In the sense in which the word was used a short time back, viz. that of a hundred thousand pounds, and implying a capital insuring affluence to the possessor; a sufficient fortune. Pluim (pluijm); q. e. a plumage, feathering; in the sense of a complete covering, that which is clothing, and so far warmth and protection from inclemency of season; without which all other means and supplies would be vain. A plum is as means secured for enjoying the state which belongs to social existence. We say the man has feathered his nest; in the sense of, his having provided for his future enjoyment of life. To pluck a fowl, is to strip it of its feathers; to pluck a man, is to strip him of his property. The French equivalent is un million (£40,000) and the possessor was called un millionaire in the sense of, one who had made a plum. JOHNSON says it is a cant term belonging to the city; but the word is neither cant nor of civic origin. He gives no etymology for the word. He plumed himself upon his talents; imports his own conceit provided him with talents, implying he had none from anywhere else. HE SAVED HIS BACON. He just escaped, and that was all. Hij so hev'd is b' hach aen; q. e. he is in this instance set upon his legs again by accident; he owes his relief from danger to a lucky chance. Aenheffen, aenheven, to set upright, to relieve, to give assistance to. B' hach (bij hach) by chance, by fortune. Hach sounds ac and b' hach, bac. Aen, on, and sounds on; so that b'hach aen has the exact sound of bacon. Hevd, hevet, hevt, as the Ang. Sax. form of gehevet, geheft, the participle past of heven as above. JOHNSON tells you the phrase is borrowed from the care of housewives in the country, where they have seldom any other provision in the house than dried bacon, to secure it from the marching soldiers! This from a mind of the keenest sagacity and of gigantic power! This placed in the treasury of our language! NOT A WORD TO THROW AT A DOG. Said of one who remains in a state of gloomy silence, torpidly speechless; evidently unwilling to take part in conversation. Noodt er wie hoord toe seer rouw; heet er d'oogh ; q. e. deep sorrow invites [inclines] to this, as is becoming to the state [you see there]; let the eye speak for him [or the eye speaks for him, tells the true situation of his mind]. Nooden, to invite, and also to make necessary. Er, in this case. Wie hoord, as it ought, as it should be, as becomes. Seer, much, excessive, deep, sorely. Rouw, mourning, grief, sorrow. Heeten, to tell, to answer for, to speak, once in use with us in the same sense. D'oogh, de oogh, the eye. Seer rouw sounds as we pronounce throw. Noodt, sounds as we utter not. Wie hoord, w'hoord, sounds word. D'oogh, sounds dog; heet er, at a. "And swore and hertely gan her HETE *, And love her always freshly newe, And nevir othir ladie have.' "-CHAUCER. "And if there askin any me, Whether that it be he or she, And how this boke, whiche is here Shal HATE†, which that I rede you here, It is the Romaunt of the Rose In whiche all the arte of love I close. *Premise, say, repeat, call. IDEM. + Be called. CLAPPERCLAW. Scolding, making a noise at, utterance of loud anger. Klap er klaar; q. e. sheer noise, mere sound, sound destitute of rational import. To clapperclaw, to bring into action such noise, and thus to make a noise, to scold loudly. Klap, noise, burst of sound; whence our clap in the phrase, a clap of thunder, or a thunder-clap. Klaar, pure, free from mixture, genuine, evident, manifest. Klaar sounds claw. 'They are CLAPPERCLAWING one another, I'll look on." SHAKSPEARE. "They 've always been at daggers-drawing, DOWN IN THE MOUTH. HUDIBRAS. Dejected, having nothing to say, dispirited. Toe aen in de moed; q. e. quite closed in point of animation; spirits at an end; all talent for display impounded; mental power obstructed. quite shut up, all over. Moed, confidence in one's self, mind, animation, spirit, vigour of soul. Toe aen sounds down. DOGGED. Toe aen, Sullen, gloomy, silent, reserved. Toe gehegt; q. e. shut up from; shut against; firmly closed up. Importing a state of moroseness or ill-will shown by silence and reserve; sullen reserve; silent ill-will, aversion to join in conversation. up, closed. Heehten, hegten, to fasten, of which gehegt is participle præterite. not sounded, and egt sounds nearly as ed. derives the term from DOG! DOG an emblem of silence! of moroseness ! Toe, shut to tie up, The his JOHNSON "Your uncle must not know but you are dead: SHAKSPEARE. "Few miles on horseback had they jogged, CALVE'S LOVE. " HUDIBRAS. In the sense of the first symptoms of love in a young person; early, transient love; love in youth; first transitory symptoms of amorous desire. Karf's laeve; sounds calf's (calve's) love, of which I have little doubt it is the original form. The meaning, however, refers to physical circumstances not to be explained here. Karf, kerfe, kerte, have the same meaning and belong to the same stock as our to carve. Laeve, laave is as the participle present of laeven, laaven, to assuage, to relieve. TO DRAW STRAWS. As in the expression his eyes begin to draw straws, and in the sense of, he seems to be going to sleep; he appears there to be almost asleep. Te draa sterrouw's; q. e. it will soon be dead sleep with him; in a minute it is all fast, quiet, with him; all in a state of fixed (motionless) repose; such as represented by one fast asleep. Te draa, at once, in a short time, quickly. Starre, sterre, ster, stiff, rigid, fixed. Roeuwe, rouwe, ruwe; repose, quietude, rest; in German ruhe. 'S, is, is. HE GRINNED LIKE A CHESHIRE CAT. An expression used in regard to some one whose appearance in a room produces a disagreeable effect; is annoying to a party. Hij geur innt lijck er j' hessé, schier kaet; q. e. he produces an unpleasant effect in the place he comes into, like some he-cat, whose presence is only perceived by the smell it brings in with it; or more literally, he brings in a flavour like some Tom-cat, and thus implying his presence in regard to society is only perceived by the disgusting effect it produces. The he-cat is often smelt but seldom perceived in any other way. Geur, flavour, odour. Innen, to bring in. Lijck, like. Er, there. Je, some. Hesse, he-cat, tom-cat. Kaet, filth, cause of stench. Geur innt sounds grinned. A CROAKER. In the sense of, one who always presents the worst view of a question; one who is in the habit of telling only the worst part of a subject in question. Erg wrock er; q. e. unfair distortion there; a perversion of the point in question. Wrock, wronck, distortion, twisting. But to croak, as a frog or rook, has nothing to do here, being simply an onomatopy of the rough deep fetched sound made by the croak of these animals; and is of the same stock as roecken and the Latin ructare, to bring up noise from the stomach through the throat.-Raucus belongs here also, as well as the French rauque. CALF. As in the phrase the calf of the leg. Kalf, q. e. fleshy thickening, fleshy part; and thus the fleshy thickening of the leg. Kalf des houts is the pulp of the tree, pulpa ligni. At bottom it is the same word as calf, the young of a cow; of this in another page. TELL-TALE. A tale-bearer; he who carries what is said from one to another. Telle t'heel; q. e. every body's hack; and thus he that carries about from one to the other. Telle, a hackney, a pad, a riding horse. Te heel, to all, to the whole, and sounds tale. LOAF. The ellipsis, of bread-loaf, or rather of braudleif, a phrase of synonymous import in the Islandick, an ancient sister-dialect of our language. Loaf is here the same word as the German lauf, and bears the |