Phrases and Names, Their Origins and Meanings. Trench H. Johnson
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 the 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.
Cadogan 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.”
Camden 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.”
Canonbury. 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.