Kroocken, krooken, kroken are the same word, and grounded in krucke, kruk (crutch, in the sense of a staff with a crooked handle, in Latin crux); but is as the more ancient kro-ig in the adjective sense of bent, curled. Of kroocken we have both our to crook and to crouch, in the sense of to stoop to, and so to court, to do as is done at court, to cringe. Hucken is grounded in hacke, hak, the same word with our hock or hough. O'er, over (over and above). "But finally ycomin is the day That to the Cherch, both twey* ben they went Forthe came the preest with stole about his nek, In wisdome and in trouth of Marriage; And said his orisons as is the usage And‡ CROUCHED them, and bad God shuld them bless, NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES. In the sense of resistance is vain where the cause is so powerful as to exceed the means of overcoming it; and thus the expression of a reluctant submission to what is coming on. Nood's meest wen't evel te rijf 's; q. e. necessity is the master where there is no match for it; necessity has the upper hand when misfortune pours in too fast. Meest, most, but used in the substantive sense of het meest, that to which all else is inferior; and thus as master or mastery in the strongest import. Te rijf, too rife, and thus too abundant, too prevailing, too general, overpowering. V and ƒ have the same sound in Dutch, and had once with us. Nood's, nood is, necessity is, need is. Need's must is nood's meest. * Together, one by the other, in Dutch by een. + Marriage is so held by the Catholic. Made them bend their heads to him, as the catholic priest makes such do to receive his formal benediction. Mr. Urry is wrong when he explains the term crouched, as crossed, i. e. signed with a cross. HE TURNED THE TABLES ON HIM. In the sense of he shewed him where he was wrong in that which he had said or proposed, and thus damaged his case, spoilt it for him; put it in another view than that he had taken of it and so changed his opinion. Hij toond die 't evel's aen hem; q. e. he showed him what was wrong in that which he had been saying; he showed him the defects of the case as stated by himself; he pointed out to him where he was mistaken, and thus gave him the choice of setting himself right or not. The second o in toond, as prolonging the sound of that letter, is not unaptly represented in the modern form of the phrase by r, the true letter of continuing sound in our language. WINDFALL. As some unexpected piece of good luck; some unforeseen benefit; some good fortune that takes by surprise. Wie innt val; q. e. that which fortune [fuck] brings in to us. Val, fortune, and also any thing which gratifies, gives pleasure; that which could be wished. Vallen means to suit, to please, hence our to fall in, as to concur, to agree. Gevallen is to charm, to bewitch, to delight. I cannot think with our dictionary makers, the word is as wind and fall, and so as something the wind has made to fall. For in that sense, if a man's house is blown down or his hat off his head, either would be a windfall. But no one, I believe, ever called either of these events a windfall. Val (pronounced fall) is ever as something that suits or pleases. Het eeten heeft nog geen val; is, the food has no flavour in it, is not according to taste, gives no pleasure. Die woorden hebben hier geen val; is, these words have nothing which pleases, suits, allures in them. Wie, what. Innen, to bring in, to produce as income, to gain by. We say of a remedy which gives unexpected relief from pain, "it acted like a charm upon me." A JEW'S EYE. As in the phrase "that is worth [as precious as] a jew's eye;" in the sense of, something most precious, most fortunate. Er gewisheid; q. e. a certainty; and, as such, relief from suspense, the worst of mental tortures, its cessation the greatest of mental pleasures. The phrase is never used, I believe, but in reference to the announcement of an unexpected relief to anxiety or distress; or else on finding relief by some medicine in case of great pain or danger. The d represents at the end of some words a very evanescent modification of sound; far less forcible than that of its relative t. Sijde, sijd sije, sij (silk) are the same word differently spelt. DEAD AS A DOOR NAIL. A jocular expression for, completely dead, utterly lifeless, past all hope. Die heet als er door 'n heel; q. e. this is what you may call being quite gone [all over]; this [the corpse in question] may properly be said to be no more; this may really be said to be a case of all over. Evidently an expression used by one who looks at the body, and sees the dismal figure it presents. Heeten, to say positively, to call, to name. Door in heel, quite gone by, and equivalent to the French term trépassé, in the sense of dead, passed away, gone elsewhere, gone out of sight. Il est pâle comme un trépassé, he is as pale as death [as a corpse]. We say as pale as ashes in the same sense; but the word ashes is not here as cinders, but the remains when life is gone; the corpse. Ashes, as corpse, is the travesty of aes is; q. e. carrion it is, dead meat it is. IN LOB'S-POUND. As in the phrase, "he is in Lob's-Pound;" and in the sense of, he is in disgraceful confinement [detention], in durance vile. Inloop's behoond; q. e. transgression [infraction] is hereby disgraced; has met its due reward, the prison; the marauder is in that state of shame which is proper for him [for his transgression]; for one who trespasses upon another's rights or property. Inloop, incursion, passing the due boundary of property; infraction upon rights [property]. Behoond, beshamed, exposed to shame, made infamous. B and p being as every day commutations of sound: pronounce the p in inloop as b, and the b in behoond as p and the original phrase then sounds in lob's-pound; and means disgrace brought on by transgression and so a gaol. When Johnson defines (as he does) the phrase to mean a prison for sturdy beggars, it is an ignorant ipse dixit and as partial as ungrounded; unless under the words sturdy beggar, every breaker of the law from the highest to the lowest is included. Charles the First was as truly in Lob's-Pound, while in durance, by the true sense of the term, as the most friendless vagrant ever committed by a justice of the peace "But was it not thou That gave Crowdero quarter too? Thou basely THREW'ST INTO LOB'S POUND, His generous bowels rage and fret: But now thy carcase shall redeem And serve to be exchanged for him."-HUDIBRAS. THE COCK OF THE ROOST. Expressive of a vain entertainer of those whose company he imagines add to his importance, or by whom his vanity is flattered; as distinguished from the frank; generous and friendly host. Dij gack hof de rust; q. e. thee a fool; the rest applauding company [courtiers, adulators], those who feed thee with flummery; cheer all thee does and says. Gack fool, simpleton. Hof, a shouting, a cheering, a huzza. De rust, the rest, the others. COCK-A-HOOP. As in the phrase he was all cock-a-hoop bout it, and in the sense of, a person's being in a state of over-expectation from the excitement of his wishes [hopes]. Gack er hope (hoop)! q. e. fool there! hope on [if you like it]; implying nobody would have any hope in the case in question but a fool, or one like himself. Hope, hoop, hope, confidence, reliance. Cock-tail, in the expression he is such a cock-tail fellow, or she is a cock-tail lady; and importing that he [she] assumes an undue importance, arrogates an unbecoming consequence, and in so doing makes an object of ridicule for others. Gack-teheel; q. e. quite a fool, a proper fool, a complete laughing-stock; and such is a cock-tail gentleman. Te heel, wholly, entirely; or as we say, to all intents and purposes. Unless the phrase was as gack te el, q. e. fun for others; a fool to another, and thus a voluntary and a cheap laughing stock for any one. Te el, to another, to any one, all else. A COCK AND BULL STORY. In the sense of, a tedious bothering prosy narration, concerning something in which the hearer, at least, has no interest. Er gack aen bol stoore je; q. e. a fool is always a bother to him who is not one, to him who has any understanding. Aen bol, upon the understanding. Stoore as the participle present of stooren, to disturb, to confuse, contracted from stoorend, stooring, disturbance. Bol, head, intellect. A LIGHT HEART AND A THIN PAIR OF BREECHES. In the sense of, a cheerful appearance (the putting a cheerful face upon events, viewing them on the bright side) is of great use in life, and belongs only to happy natures. I do not know that the phrase is ever used, except in the old and now vulgar saying of a light heart and a thin pair of breeches, 66 |