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Enough is as good as a Feast. Because at no time can a person eat more than enough.
Enrol. See “Roll Call.”
Entente Cordiale. Expresses the French for cordial good will.
Entire. A word still to be met with on old tavern signs. It meant different qualities of ale or beer drawn from one cask.
Entrées. French for entries or commencements. Those made dishes are served after the soups, as an introduction to the more substantial portions of the repast, the joints.
Epicure. After Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, who taught that pleasure and good living constituted the happiness of mankind. His followers were styled Epicureans.
Epiphany. From the Greek Epiphaneia, an appearance, a showing; relative to the adoration of the Magi, who came from the East twelve days after the birth of the Saviour.
Epsom Salts. From the mineral springs at Epsom.
Equality State. Wyoming, where, first among the communities of the world, women were accorded the right to vote.
Erie. Indian for “Wild Cat,” the fierce tribe exterminated by the Iroquois.
91Escurial. Properly Escorial, Spanish for “among the rocks.” King Philip II. built this superb convent and palace after the battle of St Quentin, in the course of which he had been obliged to bombard a monastery of the Order of St Jerome. He dedicated it to St Lawrence. He caused the structure to be in the form of a gridiron, the symbol of the Saint’s martyrdom.
Esk. A river name derived from the Celtic uisg, water.
Esquimaux. An Alonquin Indian term signifying “eaters of raw flesh.”
Essex. The kingdom of the East Saxons under the Heptarchy.
Essex Street. From the mansion of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, the Parliamentary General in Cromwell’s time.
Ethelred the Unready. From his incapacity and unwillingness to accept rede, or counsel.
Ethiopia. From the Greek aithein, to burn, and ops, the face. Hence “the country of the blacks.”
Etiquette. A French word for “label.” Formerly a ticket or card of instructions was handed to visitors on ceremonial occasions. Nowadays such rules as pertain to deportment or decorum are supposed to enter into the education of all well-bred persons.
Etna. From the Phœnician attuna, a furnace.
Eton. The Anglo-Saxon Eyton, “island town.”
Ettrick Shepherd. The literary sobriquet of James Hogg, the poet, of Ettrick, Selkirkshire.
Europe. From the Greek euros, broad, and ops, the face; literally “the broad face of the earth.”
Euston Road. From the seat of the Earl of Euston at Thetford, Norfolk, the ground landlord.
Evacuation Day. November 25th, observed in the United States as commemorating the evacuation of New York city by the British after the War of Independence, 1783.
92Evangelist. From the Greek euanggelion, “good news.” One of the four writers of the Gospels of the New Testament.
Evelyn Street. From the residence of John Evelyn, the diarist. One of his descendants, the Rev. W. J. Evelyn, of Wolton, built the church of St Luke, Deptford, in 1872.
Everglade State. Florida, from its tracts of land, covered with water and grass, called Everglades.
Ex. Another form of the Celtic uisg, water.
Exchequer. The table of this Court was formerly covered with checkered cloth, so called from the Old French eschequier, chess board.
Executive City. Washington, which contains the White House, the official residence of the President of the Republic, the House of Representatives, and the Senate Chamber.
Exellers. The 40th Foot, from the Roman numerals XL.
Exeter. Called by the Saxons Exancester, or the Roman camp town on the Exe.
Exeter College. Founded at Oxford by Walter Stapleton, Bishop of Exeter and Lord Treasurer of England, in 1316.
Exeter Street. From the mansion and grounds of the Earl of Exeter, the eldest son of the great Lord Burleigh.
Exhibition Road. This wide thoroughfare formed the eastern boundary of the plot of ground purchased by the Commissioners for the Great Exhibition of 1862.
Exodus. The Scriptural narrative of the departure of the Israelites from the Land of Bondage.
Eye. Expresses the Anglo-Saxon for island. The river Waveney surrounds the town.
Eye-opener. An American drink of mixed spirits as a remedy for drowsiness.
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F
Face the Music. To bear the jeers and taunts of those who laugh at us.
Factory King. Richard Oastler of Bradford, the promoter of the “Ten Hours’ Bill.”
Fag. Slang for a cigarette, derived from the fag end–i.e. fatigued or spent end–of a cigar. Also a small boy who acts as a drudge in the service of another at a public school, so called from the Anglo-Saxon fæge, weak, timid.
Fair Cop. Thieves’ slang for a smart capture by the police. Whereas another would say “The game’s up!” a thief admits that he has been fairly caught by the expression “It’s a fair cop.” See “Cop.”
Fair Maid of Kent. Joan, the beautiful and only daughter of the Earl of Kent, who became the wife of Edward the Black Prince.
Fair Street. A name left us as a reminder of a once celebrated fair on the Southwark bank of the Thames.
Faith Healers. A sect which upholds the doctrine of healing the sick by prayer and anointing with oil in the name of the Lord, as set forth in James v. 13-15.
Faix. An Irishman’s exclamation for “Faith” or “In Faith.”
Fake. To make-believe or cheat. An actor is said to “fake up” an article of costume out of very sorry materials, which at a distance looks like the real thing. A photographer can “fake” a spirit photo by means of two distinct plates. Food also is largely “faked.” The word is derived from “Fakir.”
Fakir. From the Arabic fakhar, poor.
Falcon Square. From an ancient hostelry, “The Castle and Falcon,” hard by in Aldersgate Street.
Falernian. A celebrated wine, extolled by Horace, Virgil, 94and other Latin authors, prepared from grapes grown in the district of Falernicum.
Fall. An Americanism for autumn, in allusion to the fall of the leaves.
Fallopian Tubes. Said to have been discovered by Gabriel Fallopius, the eminent Italian anatomist of the sixteenth century. They were, however, known to the ancients.
Falls City. Louisville, in the state of Kentucky, because it overlooks the falls of the Ohio River.
Falmouth. A seaport at the mouth of the Fale.
Family Circle. This expression had a literal meaning in the time of the Normans, when the fire occupied the centre of the floor, and the smoke found its vent through a hole in the roof. In Germany and Russia the domestic apartments are economically warmed by an enclosed stove in the centre. Amongst ourselves the phrase “sit round the fire” only conveys a half-truth.
Fancy Drink. An Americanism for a concoction of various spirits, as distinguished from a Straight Drink of one kind.
Fandago. Spanish for a “lively dance.”
Farmer George. George III., on account of his dress, ma
Farm Street. From an old farm, on the land of Lord Berkeley of Stratton in the time of Charles I.
Faro. So called from a representation of Pharaoh on one of the cards originally.
Farringdon Road. After William Farringdon, citizen and goldsmith, who, for the sum of twenty marks, in 1279 purchased the Aldermanry of the ward named after him.
Farthing. From the Anglo-Saxon feorthling, a little fourth. In olden times pe
Farthingale. A corruption of Verdingale, from the French vertugarde, a guard for modesty. Queen Elizabeth is said to have introduced this hooped petticoat in order to disguise her figure.
Farthing Poet. The sobriquet of Richard Horne, who published his chief poem, “Orion,” at one farthing, so that it should not want for buyers.
Fastern’s E’en. The Scottish description of Shrove Tuesday, being the eve of the Lenten Fast.
Father of Believers. Mohammed, because he established and promulgated the faith of the Moslem, or “true believers.”
Father of the Music Halls. The late William Morton, manager of the Palace Theatre of Varieties, and founder of the earliest London Music Hall, “The Canterbury,” in the Westminster Bridge Road, which dates from the year 1848.
Fathers of the Church. The great doctors or theological writers of the period from the first to the seventh centuries of Christianity. See “Apostolic Fathers.”
Faugh-a-Ballagh Boys. The 87th Foot, from their battle cry.
Feast of Lanterns. A Chinese festival which occurs on the fifteenth day of the first moon of the year. Walking by the side of a beautiful lake one night the daughter of a mandarin fell in, and was drowned. When her father heard of the accident he, attended by all his household, carrying lanterns, rushed to the spot. On the a