‘church v.trans. . . ▸1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 75 Chyrchyn, or puryfyen, Purifico. . . 1597 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 43 For makinge a natt for the wyves to knele on when they come to be churched. . . 1667 M. A. F. Fox Touch-stone 70 The like may be said also of their Churching women, and Marrying people with Rings: but it appeareth that the main end of these Practices, are to get money of people . . ‘
I am a retired office-wallah* leading a blameless life in London. I started reading near the beginning of the first run through, gave up when I retired, resumed quite late when I discovered that Phil had added a daily email service and then again quite near the start for this run through which I read each evening. I am currently a week behind but catching up . .
To help settle the meaning of a word or phrase that SP intended, I post from the full online Oxford English Dictionary (which I have free access to via my public library in the UK) ‘constructed upon historical principles’: http://www.oed.com/ His use of English reflects his upbringing in a rural backwater as well as the modern slang of Restoration London, fast changing then as now.
Our hero is the 189th most frequently quoted source in the OED, with a total of 2018 quotations (about 0.06% of all OED quotations http://www.oed.com/view/source/a1…) 82 quotations provide first evidence of a word and 436 of a particular meaning. I get a particular pleasure from looking up a word and finding a quote from SP, sometimes with no further elaboration. All we can say is he knew what he meant when he wrote what he did!
* . . < Hindi -wālā . . d. One carrying out a routine administrative job; a civil servant, a bureaucrat. colloq. 1965 ‘A. Nicol’ Truly Married Woman 32 There's no end to what you wallahs in the administration would do to show your damned official broadmindedness. 1974 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 7 June 7/3 Some wallahs in Canberra are sitting in air-conditioned offices telling us what has been flooded and what hasn't.
‘fall out . . 7. To happen, chance, occur, arise, come to pass. Now chiefly quasi-impers. with subject clause . . . . 1627 R. Perrot Tithes 51 How often falls it out that a Parishioner..detaines some part or the whole of his tithe. . . 1688 Lett. conc. Present St. Italy 101 It fell out to be the year of Jubily, 1650 . . ‘
In 1662, in the middle of the Little Ice Age, at this date the leaves would have been off the trees by the end of October and the temperature would have dropped so that it would be the start of winter.
Nowadays climate change has extended autumn so that in London the final leaves will still be falling at the corresponding date, November 21 New Style. This change has occurred during the 40 years I have lived at my present address.
‘ < Middle French escoler to teach, instruct . . 3. trans. . . b. In early use: †to reprimand, scold, admonish (obs.). To tell (a person) he or she is wrong about something; to dictate to (a person); to criticize, correct, ‘lecture’. Now colloq. . . a1641 T. Heywood & W. Rowley Fortune by Land & Sea (1655) i. i, Nay school us not old man, some of us are too old to learn. a1657 R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 272 That's my Landlord's fault, for which I shall school him.’ [OED]
John York is correct except that the idiom is ancient. OED has:
‘cross n. < in the N. and E. of England . . the Norse kross, adopted < Old Irish cros < Latin cruc-em. . . 10. a. A trial or affliction viewed in its Christian aspect, to be borne for Christ's sake with Christian patience; often in phr. to bear, take one's cross, with reference to Matt. x. 38, xvi. 24, etc. 1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Matt. x. 38 He that takith nat his crosse, and sueth me, is not worthi of me. . . 1669 W. Penn (title) , No Cross no Crown; a Discourse shewing..that the..daily bearing of Christ's Cross, is the alone way to the rest and kingdom of God. 1779 W. Cowper in J. Newton & W. Cowper Olney Hymns ii. lv. 248 We learn our lighter cross to bear. 1920 A. Huxley Limbo 184 You must try and be strong and bear it bravely. We all have our cross to bear . . ‘
At this date galleries served as external corridors connecting rooms. Inside corridors has not yet been invented. They were also used, as here, as exercise space, where one could walk up and down and converse.
OED has:
‘corridor, n. < French corridor < Italian corridore (also corridoio) a long passage in a building or between two buildings, < correre to run . . . . 3. An outside gallery or passage round the quadrangle or court of a building, connecting one part with another. c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 129 The Court below is formd into a Squar by a Corridor, having over the chiefe Entrance a stately Cupola cover'd with stone. 1755 Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Corridor, a gallery or long isle round about a building, leading to several chambers at a distance from each other . . ‘
whence:
‘4. a. A main passage in a large building, upon which in its course many apartments open. Also fig. Cf. coulisse n. 4. 1814 Byron Corsair iii. xix. 90 Glimmering through the dusky corridore, Another [lamp] chequers o'er the shadowed floor . . ‘
‘slubber, v. < Probably of Dutch or Low German origin: compare Middle Dutch overslubberen to wade through mud, Low German slubbern . . to gobble, to scamp in working, etc. . .
I suggest that being a Catholic she would instead celebrate her ‘name day’ - St. Elizabeth's feast day - on November 5. http://www.catholic.org/saints/sa…
‘jointure, n. < F jointure < L junctūra . . . . 4. spec. a. orig. The holding of property to the joint use of a husband and wife for life or in tail, as a provision for the latter, in the event of her widowhood. Hence, by extension:
b. A sole estate limited to the wife, being ‘a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife of lands and tenements, to take effect upon the death of the husband for the life of the wife at least’ (Coke upon Littleton, 36 b). . . 1684 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 95 He had married a widdow of 700 li. per annum joynter. 1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. viii. 137 A jointure..strictly speaking, signifies a joint estate, limited to both husband and wife, but in common acceptation extends also to a sole estate, limited to the wife only . . ‘
‘mind n. . . 17. Phrases . . c. to speak one's mind: to give one's judgement or opinion; esp. to express one's sentiments candidly or plainly, to speak freely. Also to open one's mind (now arch.). Similarly to tell (a person) one's mind, to let (a person) know one's mind: to let (a person) know one's judgement or opinion . . . . a1616 a1616 Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 59 Giue me leaue To speake my minde. . . 1702 R. Steele Funeral ii. 19 When I know her further than Skin-deep, I'll tell you more of my mind . . ‘
‘bravely, adv. 1. In a brave manner; valiantly, fearlessly. 1600 Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 146 He brauely broacht his boyling bloody breast . .
2. In a showy manner; gaily, splendidly, finely, handsomely . . . . 1636 W. Davenant Witts (1673) 184 The Chamber's bravely hung.
3. Worthily, excellently, capitally, well . . . . 1609 Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. ii. 178 Here's an excellent place, here wee may see most brauely . . ‘
‘counterfeit adj. . . II. 5. . . b. Of writings: Forged, not genuine, spurious. . . 1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 579/1 Knowe whiche wer the verye true scripture of God, and which wer scriptures countrefet. 1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. iii. 116 Panetius believes them to be his own, not counterfeit. 1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. iv. xxx. 224 To distinguish those that are truly ancient and genuine from such as are counterfeit . .
. . B. n. 1. A false or spurious imitation. . . c. A writing, etc. that is not genuine; a forgery. . . 1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 109 Citing (besides some of his owne counterfaits..) a saying of S. Chrysostome. 1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull Still in Senses iii. iii. 15 He has the original Deed..the others are Counterfeits . . ‘
Re John: These horses spent their lives going back and forth between two livery stables so they would have known the road intimately, by smell and feel as well as by sight. So they would have gone on confidently where a stranger horse would have slowed down to a crawl.
‘Choice . . 2.c. Hobson's choice: the option of taking the one thing offered or nothing; also rhyming slang for ‘voice’; freq. ellipt. Named from Tobias Hobson, the Cambridge carrier (commemorated by Milton in two Epitaphs), who let out horses, and is said to have compelled customers to take the horse which happened to be next the stable-door, or go without. See Spectator 1712 No. 509. 1660 S. Fisher Rusticus ad Academicos i. 74 If in this case there be no other (as the Proverb is) then Hobsons Choice..which is chuse whether you will have this or none. . . a1708 T. Ward England's Reformation (1716) 326 Where to elect there is but one, 'Tis Hobson's choice, Take that or none . . ‘
‘tautology, n. < post-classical Latin tautologia < Hellenistic Greek ταὐτολογία . . 1. Unnecessary repetition, usually in close proximity, of the same word, phrase, idea, argument, etc. Now typically: the saying of the same thing twice in different words (e.g. ‘they arrived one after the other in succession’), generally considered to be a fault of style. . . 1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. xii. 56 The Taedium of Tautology is odious to every Pen and Ear . . ‘
‘rack, n.9 < Variant of wrack n.1 1. Destruction. Chiefly in to go (etc.) to rack (and ruin): to fall into a state of total neglect, disrepair, or ruin. 1599 in T. Fowler Hist. Corpus Christi Coll. (1893) 349 In the mean season the College shall goe to rack and ruin . . ‘
‘wrack, n.1 < Old English wræc neuter, . . 2. a. Damage, disaster, or injury to a person, state, etc., by reason of force, outrage, or violence; devastation, destruction . . . . 1640 T. Carew Poems 6 Time and age will worke that wrack Which time or age shall ne're call backe. 1659 Bibliotheca Regia (title-page), Such of the Papers..as have escaped the wrack and ruines of these times . . . . 2. b. In the phr. to bring, go, put, run to wrack (and ruin) In freq. use, esp. with go (went), c1560–1680. . . 1667 Milton Paradise Lost vi. 670 And now all Heav'n Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspred . . ‘
‘ < Fanny Adams, the name of a child who was murdered and dismembered at Alton, Hampshire, England, in August 1867. . . 2. slang. Freq. in sweet Fanny Adams: nothing at all. Sometimes interpreted as a euphemism for ‘sweet fuck all’ in the same sense . . . . 1930 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 123 F.A. Sometimes lengthened into Sweet F.A. or bowdlerized into Sweet Fanny Adams. Used to mean ‘nothing’ where something was expected . . ‘
' . . The Vikings did not stay at L’Anse aux Meadows long. The sagas tell of clashes between the Norsemen and the indigenous people, who they called Skraelings. Vastly outnumbered, the Norse returned to Greenland after a few years. Time period: 1000 AD . . '
Comments
Second Reading
About Sunday 16 November 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘church v.trans. . .
▸1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 75 Chyrchyn, or puryfyen, Purifico.
. . 1597 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 43 For makinge a natt for the wyves to knele on when they come to be churched.
. . 1667 M. A. F. Fox Touch-stone 70 The like may be said also of their Churching women, and Marrying people with Rings: but it appeareth that the main end of these Practices, are to get money of people . . ‘
About Roll Call. Say hello!
Chris Squire UK • Link
I am a retired office-wallah* leading a blameless life in London. I started reading near the beginning of the first run through, gave up when I retired, resumed quite late when I discovered that Phil had added a daily email service and then again quite near the start for this run through which I read each evening. I am currently a week behind but catching up . .
To help settle the meaning of a word or phrase that SP intended, I post from the full online Oxford English Dictionary (which I have free access to via my public library in the UK) ‘constructed upon historical principles’: http://www.oed.com/ His use of English reflects his upbringing in a rural backwater as well as the modern slang of Restoration London, fast changing then as now.
Our hero is the 189th most frequently quoted source in the OED, with a total of 2018 quotations (about 0.06% of all OED quotations http://www.oed.com/view/source/a1…) 82 quotations provide first evidence of a word and 436 of a particular meaning. I get a particular pleasure from looking up a word and finding a quote from SP, sometimes with no further elaboration. All we can say is he knew what he meant when he wrote what he did!
* . . < Hindi -wālā . . d. One carrying out a routine administrative job; a civil servant, a bureaucrat. colloq.
1965 ‘A. Nicol’ Truly Married Woman 32 There's no end to what you wallahs in the administration would do to show your damned official broadmindedness.
1974 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 7 June 7/3 Some wallahs in Canberra are sitting in air-conditioned offices telling us what has been flooded and what hasn't.
About Sunday 9 November 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘fall out . . 7. To happen, chance, occur, arise, come to pass. Now chiefly quasi-impers. with subject clause . .
. . 1627 R. Perrot Tithes 51 How often falls it out that a Parishioner..detaines some part or the whole of his tithe.
. . 1688 Lett. conc. Present St. Italy 101 It fell out to be the year of Jubily, 1650 . . ‘
About Sunday 9 November 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
In 1662, in the middle of the Little Ice Age, at this date the leaves would have been off the trees by the end of October and the temperature would have dropped so that it would be the start of winter.
Nowadays climate change has extended autumn so that in London the final leaves will still be falling at the corresponding date, November 21 New Style. This change has occurred during the 40 years I have lived at my present address.
About Wednesday 5 November 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
This is the sense of ‘school’ here:
‘ < Middle French escoler to teach, instruct
. . 3. trans. . . b. In early use: †to reprimand, scold, admonish (obs.). To tell (a person) he or she is wrong about something; to dictate to (a person); to criticize, correct, ‘lecture’. Now colloq.
. . a1641 T. Heywood & W. Rowley Fortune by Land & Sea (1655) i. i, Nay school us not old man, some of us are too old to learn.
a1657 R. Loveday Lett. (1663) 272 That's my Landlord's fault, for which I shall school him.’ [OED]
About Friday 31 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
John York is correct except that the idiom is ancient. OED has:
‘cross n. < in the N. and E. of England . . the Norse kross, adopted < Old Irish cros < Latin cruc-em.
. . 10. a. A trial or affliction viewed in its Christian aspect, to be borne for Christ's sake with Christian patience; often in phr. to bear, take one's cross, with reference to Matt. x. 38, xvi. 24, etc.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Matt. x. 38 He that takith nat his crosse, and sueth me, is not worthi of me.
. . 1669 W. Penn (title) , No Cross no Crown; a Discourse shewing..that the..daily bearing of Christ's Cross, is the alone way to the rest and kingdom of God.
1779 W. Cowper in J. Newton & W. Cowper Olney Hymns ii. lv. 248 We learn our lighter cross to bear.
1920 A. Huxley Limbo 184 You must try and be strong and bear it bravely. We all have our cross to bear . . ‘
About Monday 27 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
At this date galleries served as external corridors connecting rooms. Inside corridors has not yet been invented. They were also used, as here, as exercise space, where one could walk up and down and converse.
OED has:
‘corridor, n. < French corridor < Italian corridore (also corridoio) a long passage in a building or between two buildings, < correre to run . .
. . 3. An outside gallery or passage round the quadrangle or court of a building, connecting one part with another.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 129 The Court below is formd into a Squar by a Corridor, having over the chiefe Entrance a stately Cupola cover'd with stone.
1755 Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Corridor, a gallery or long isle round about a building, leading to several chambers at a distance from each other . . ‘
whence:
‘4. a. A main passage in a large building, upon which in its course many apartments open. Also fig. Cf. coulisse n. 4.
1814 Byron Corsair iii. xix. 90 Glimmering through the dusky corridore, Another [lamp] chequers o'er the shadowed floor . . ‘
About Sunday 26 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘slubber, v. < Probably of Dutch or Low German origin: compare Middle Dutch overslubberen to wade through mud, Low German slubbern . . to gobble, to scamp in working, etc. . .
About Saturday 25 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re ‘even end’: nothing in OED so George R’s reading on 26 Oct 2005 seems to be correct.
About Friday 24 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
I suggest that being a Catholic she would instead celebrate her ‘name day’ - St. Elizabeth's feast day - on November 5. http://www.catholic.org/saints/sa…
About Sunday 19 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘jointure, n. < F jointure < L junctūra . .
. . 4. spec. a. orig. The holding of property to the joint use of a husband and wife for life or in tail, as a provision for the latter, in the event of her widowhood. Hence, by extension:
b. A sole estate limited to the wife, being ‘a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife of lands and tenements, to take effect upon the death of the husband for the life of the wife at least’ (Coke upon Littleton, 36 b).
. . 1684 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 95 He had married a widdow of 700 li. per annum joynter.
1767 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. viii. 137 A jointure..strictly speaking, signifies a joint estate, limited to both husband and wife, but in common acceptation extends also to a sole estate, limited to the wife only . . ‘
About Friday 17 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘mind n. . . 17. Phrases . . c. to speak one's mind: to give one's judgement or opinion; esp. to express one's sentiments candidly or plainly, to speak freely. Also to open one's mind (now arch.). Similarly to tell (a person) one's mind, to let (a person) know one's mind: to let (a person) know one's judgement or opinion . .
. . a1616 a1616 Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 59 Giue me leaue To speake my minde.
. . 1702 R. Steele Funeral ii. 19 When I know her further than Skin-deep, I'll tell you more of my mind . . ‘
About Tuesday 14 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘bravely, adv.
1. In a brave manner; valiantly, fearlessly.
1600 Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 146 He brauely broacht his boyling bloody breast . .
2. In a showy manner; gaily, splendidly, finely, handsomely . .
. . 1636 W. Davenant Witts (1673) 184 The Chamber's bravely hung.
3. Worthily, excellently, capitally, well . .
. . 1609 Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. ii. 178 Here's an excellent place, here wee may see most brauely . . ‘
Sense 3 is meant here.
About Monday 13 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED offers:
‘counterfeit adj. . . II. 5. . . b. Of writings: Forged, not genuine, spurious.
. . 1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 579/1 Knowe whiche wer the verye true scripture of God, and which wer scriptures countrefet.
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. iii. 116 Panetius believes them to be his own, not counterfeit.
1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. iv. xxx. 224 To distinguish those that are truly ancient and genuine from such as are counterfeit . .
. . B. n. 1. A false or spurious imitation. . . c. A writing, etc. that is not genuine; a forgery.
. . 1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 109 Citing (besides some of his owne counterfaits..) a saying of S. Chrysostome.
1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull Still in Senses iii. iii. 15 He has the original Deed..the others are Counterfeits . . ‘
About Thursday 9 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re John: These horses spent their lives going back and forth between two livery stables so they would have known the road intimately, by smell and feel as well as by sight. So they would have gone on confidently where a stranger horse would have slowed down to a crawl.
About Thursday 9 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re Cumgranissalis on 10 Oct 2005; OED has:
‘Choice . . 2.c. Hobson's choice: the option of taking the one thing offered or nothing; also rhyming slang for ‘voice’; freq. ellipt. Named from Tobias Hobson, the Cambridge carrier (commemorated by Milton in two Epitaphs), who let out horses, and is said to have compelled customers to take the horse which happened to be next the stable-door, or go without. See Spectator 1712 No. 509.
1660 S. Fisher Rusticus ad Academicos i. 74 If in this case there be no other (as the Proverb is) then Hobsons Choice..which is chuse whether you will have this or none.
. . a1708 T. Ward England's Reformation (1716) 326 Where to elect there is but one, 'Tis Hobson's choice, Take that or none . . ‘
About Monday 6 October 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘tautology, n. < post-classical Latin tautologia < Hellenistic Greek ταὐτολογία . .
1. Unnecessary repetition, usually in close proximity, of the same word, phrase, idea, argument, etc. Now typically: the saying of the same thing twice in different words (e.g. ‘they arrived one after the other in succession’), generally considered to be a fault of style.
. . 1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. xii. 56 The Taedium of Tautology is odious to every Pen and Ear . . ‘
About Tuesday 30 September 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘rack, n.9 < Variant of wrack n.1
1. Destruction. Chiefly in to go (etc.) to rack (and ruin): to fall into a state of total neglect, disrepair, or ruin.
1599 in T. Fowler Hist. Corpus Christi Coll. (1893) 349 In the mean season the College shall goe to rack and ruin . . ‘
‘wrack, n.1 < Old English wræc neuter,
. . 2. a. Damage, disaster, or injury to a person, state, etc., by reason of force, outrage, or violence; devastation, destruction . .
. . 1640 T. Carew Poems 6 Time and age will worke that wrack Which time or age shall ne're call backe.
1659 Bibliotheca Regia (title-page), Such of the Papers..as have escaped the wrack and ruines of these times . .
. . 2. b. In the phr. to bring, go, put, run to wrack (and ruin) In freq. use, esp. with go (went), c1560–1680.
. . 1667 Milton Paradise Lost vi. 670 And now all Heav'n Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspred . . ‘
About Saturday 20 September 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re Fanny Adams, OED has:
‘ < Fanny Adams, the name of a child who was murdered and dismembered at Alton, Hampshire, England, in August 1867.
. . 2. slang. Freq. in sweet Fanny Adams: nothing at all. Sometimes interpreted as a euphemism for ‘sweet fuck all’ in the same sense . .
. . 1930 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 123 F.A. Sometimes lengthened into Sweet F.A. or bowdlerized into Sweet Fanny Adams. Used to mean ‘nothing’ where something was expected . . ‘
About Friday 19 September 1662
Chris Squire UK • Link
L'Anse aux Meadows: http://www.canadashistory.ca/Maga…
' . . The Vikings did not stay at L’Anse aux Meadows long. The sagas tell of clashes between the Norsemen and the indigenous people, who they called Skraelings. Vastly outnumbered, the Norse returned to Greenland after a few years. Time period: 1000 AD . . '