Word: origins
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Dates: during 1873-1873
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...cattle-thief, sir. Until his seventeenth year, he never saw a book, sir, nor a page, nor a line, sir. He was brought up in the deepest dirt, sir, and degradation, sir." Could Mr. Bounderby himself have said more? Here was a poet in a strange shape, indeed. His origin was none of the best, and, we were assured, up to the time of his introduction to his publisher, he invariably ate his beefsteak (raw) with a bowie-knife...
...were as kind as they could have been if bribed; they occupied themselves more harmlessly than ever before or since, - they sorted his words, and with most gratifying results. One eminent philologist discovered that in a certain poem ninety-five per cent of the words was of Anglo-Saxon origin, three and a half was Western slang, while but one and a half per cent was Latin or Greek! He was proclaimed the people's poet, and, for a time, all went well: but he had climbed too high to keep his position; it began to be thought that Homer...
...article, since it is turned from its usual signification, is illustrative of what we mean. The work entitled "College Words and Customs" contains no definition of it; we infer, from the fact that this book was published some score of years ago, that the word is of comparatively recent origin. It is, however, only a name for certain customs which have always been prevalent in college life. To speak scientifically, we might define roughing as a genus under which come the species hazing and jesting, or as any phrase or word used to denote the ridiculing of another...
...compelled to say, "Have you seen the man who makes my fire, blacks my boots, brings up the water, steals the coal, upsets the inkbottle, and fuddles himself before 12 M.?" No; it is too much. Let some distinctive name be chosen at once, and, whatever be its origin, be it Greek, Latin, French, German, Anglo-Saxon, or a hybrid, let it, Oh, in the name of justice, let it be opprobrious...