OSWEGO TEA. (Lat. monarda didyma.) A medicinal plant prepared by the Shakers for its aromatic and stomachic properties. OUGHT. As this verb is defective, and has no inflection to distinguish past from present time, illiterate persons often attempt to supply the deficiency by the use of auxiliaries. Hence the expressions, don't ought, had ought, hadn't ought. Mr. Pegge notices the two last among the vulgarisms of London. Now, you hadn't ought to be so stingy with such charming daughters as you've got.-Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 67. Peter Cram is an impostor and ignoramus, and you hadn't ought to have recommended him.-Knickerbocker Mag., Vol. XVII. "The luggage must be brought in," said the elderly gentleman. "Yes! I should think it had oughter," observed the young man in reply. "I should bring it in, if it was mine."—Mrs. Clavers's Forest Life, Vol. I. p. 96. OURN, for ours. A vulgarism frequently heard, which is also common in the local dialect of London. OUT AND OUT. Wholly; completely; without reservation. Duff Green has issued proposals for a new free-trade paper in the city Although an out-and-out democrat, by virtue of my subscription, and your well-known liberality, I claim to be heard through your columns.— Cor. of N. Y. Tribune, Oct. 28, 1845. Pliny Hopper expected to make a thousand per cent. the first year [on his morus multicaulis trees], and the second to be able to retire from business, and buy the whole State of Connecticut out-and-out.—Knick. Mag. OUT OF FIX. Disarranged; in a state of disorder. The week was the longest one ever was. It seemed to me that the axletree of the world wanted greasin', or somethin' or other was out of fix, for it didn't seem to turn round half so fast as it used to do.-Maj. Jones's Conrtship, p. 80. OUT OF SORTS. Out of order; disordered. Dr. Millingen, in his remarks on persons of phlegmatic temperament, says: They are in general good, easy persons, susceptible of kindly feelings, but, to use a common expression, easily put out of sorts.-Mind and Matter, p. 84. OUTFIT. Money advanced to a public minister, going to a foreign country, beyond his salary.-Webster. TO OUTSTORM. To overbear by storming.-Webster. OVER, for under. In these expressions, 'He wrote over the signature of Junius;' 'He published some papers over his own signature.' A few of our writers still countenance this unwarrantable innovation; but the principle, on which it is defended, would unsettle the whole language. The use of the word under, in phrases like those above mentioned, is as well established as any English idiom.-Pickering. Mr. Hoffman, in reply to a correspondent, says: Had our friend U., of Philadelphia, duly meditated this matter, he never would have sent us a letter with such an unpoetical expression in it as the very common blunder of "over the signature "--for the metaphorical phrase originally derived from the ensign of the soldier, the device of the knight, the armorial bearing of the baron, the totem, if you please, of the Indian sachem, under which he presents himself to the world. U., as a lawyer, must at least be more or less familiar with the phrase, "given under my hand and seal," as a true English idiom, albeit the hand and seal (which in this instance constitute "the signature ") are placed at the bottom of the document. We do not talk of a vessel sailing "over" the flag of the United States, when her ensigns are sent below at sunset!-N. Y. Lit. World. OVER-CAREFUL. Careful to excess.-Webster. TO OVERHAUL. To gain upon in a chase; to overtake.Webster. A seaman's phrase, sometimes used in common parlance. OVERSLAUGH. (Dutch, overslag.) A bar, in the marine language of the Dutch. The overslaugh in the Hudson river near Albany, is, I believe, the only locality to which this term is now applied among us. TO OVERSLAUGH. (Dutch, overslaan.) To skip over; pass over; omit. A word used by New York politicians. Mr. Polk intended making Gen. Butler commander-in-chief, and to drop Gen. Scott. But it was found that public opinion would not be reconciled to overslaughing Taylor, and he [Gen. Taylor] was nominated.- Washington Correspondent, N. Y. Com. Adv., Oct. 21, 1846. Van Buren is no longer feared as a candidate for the Presidency. He was overslaughed in May, when he was a candidate of some promise.— Letter from Washington, N. Y. Com. Adv., Nov. 28, 1846. OWDACIOUS, for audacious. Southern and Western. He had a daughter Molly, that was the most enticin', heart-distressin' creature that ever made a feller get oudacious.—Robb, Squatter Life. Why, Major, you wouldn't take such a likely gall as that to New York? -the abolitionists would have her out of your hands quicker than you could say Jack Robinson. I was never so oudaciously put out with the abominable abolitionists before. It was enough to make a man what wasn't principled agin swearin', cus like a trooper.-Maj. Jones's Travels. P. PAAS. (Dutch, Paasch.) This Dutch name is still commonly applied to the festival of Easter, in the State of New York. PACKAGE. A general term, comprehending bales, boxes, &c. of merchandise.-Pickering. Dr. Johnson and the early lexicographers do not notice the word. Recent authors, however, Knowles and Reid, give it a place in their dictionaries. PAINT. In some of the Southern States, a horse or other animal which is spotted, is called a paint. PAINTER. In the country the popular name of the cougar or panther (felis concolor). Vanderdonck, in his "History of the New Netherlands," called it a lion; and Mr. Emmons, in his "Massachusetts Report," speaks of it as the Puma or American Lion. "You don't know the way," said Obed; "snakes'll bite ye; there's painters in the woods, and wild cats and owls."-Margaret, p. 27. PAIR OF STAIRS. An expression often used for a flight of stairs. PALMETTO. (Genus, chamarops.) A species of American dwarf palm; cabbage tree.-Worcester. PALMETTO STATE or CAPITAL. The State or capital of South Carolina; so called from the arms of the State, which contain a palmetto. In the delightful temperature of to-day, with the rich foliage of the trees in green luxuriance, and the perfumes of a thousand beds of flowers burdening the air, the Palmetto Capital is exceedingly pleasant.-Letter from Charleston, N. Y. Tribune. It is also PAPPOOS. (Algonkin.) Among the native Indians of New England, a babe or young child.-Webster. applied to Indian infants by the whites. PARK. A public square or enclosure is so termed in New York. The Park, formerly called the Commons, and in which stands the City Hall, contains nearly eleven acres of ground; St. John's Park, called the Hudson Square, has above four acres. PARTLY. Mr. Pickering notices the use of this word in the sense of nearly, almost, in some towns of the Middle States. Ex. His house is partly opposite,' i. e. nearly opposite to mine. It is partly all gone ;' i. e. nearly all gone. PASSAGE. Enactment; the act of carrying through all the regular forms necessary to give validity; as the passage of a law, or of a bill into a law, by a legislative body.-Webster. Mr. Pickering says this word "is criticised by the English reviewers as an American innovation." It is not in the English dictionaries in this sense. His agency in procuring the passage of the stamp act was more than suspected.-Hosack. PATROON. (Dutch, patroon, a patron.) A grantee of land to be settled under the old Dutch governments of New York and New Jersey. The following articles from the "Freedoms and Exemptions" granted to the Dutch West India Company, will show what were some of the privileges of the Patroons : Art. 3. All such shall be acknowledged Patroons of New Netherland who shall, within the space of four years next after they have given notice to any of the Chambers of the Company here, or to the Commander of the Council there, undertake to plant a colonie there of fifty souls, upwards of fifteen years of age; one-fourth part within one year, and within three years of the sending of the first, the remainder, to the full number of fifty persons, to be shipped from hence, on pain, in case of wilful neglect, of being deprived of the privileges obtained, etc. Art. 5. The Patroons, by virtue of their power, shall and may be permitted, at such places as they shall settle their colonies, to extend their limits four miles along the shore, that is, on one side of a navigable river, or two miles on each side of a river, and so far into the country as the situation of the occupiers will permit, etc. Art. 8 The Patroons may, if they think proper, make use of all lands, rivers, and woods lying contiguous to them, for and during so long a time as this Company shall grant them to other Patroons or particulars. For a further account of the privileges of the Patroons, see O'Callaghan's History of New Netherland, Vol. I. p. 112. PAWPAW. (Lat. annona triloba, ficus Indicus.) A wild fruitbearing shrub, remarkable for its beauty. The fruit is nutritious, and a great resource to the Indians. "So many whimsical and compounded tastes are contained in it," says Mr. Flint," that a person of the most hypochondriac temperament relaxes to a smile when he tastes the pawpaw for the first time."—Geog. of the Mississippi Valley. PAYEE. The person to whom money is to be paid; the person named in a bill or note to whom the amount is promised or directed to be paid.-Webster. This useful word is not in the English dictionaries. TO PEAK. TO PEKE. } To peep; to pry into. It is quite common in the popular language of New England to hear this word, which Dr. Webster supposes to be the same as peep. If it is a corruption, which is doubtful, the examples will show that its use is not modern. Now whereof he speketh; He cryeth and he creketh, He pryeth and he peketh.--Skelton, Colin Cloute, Vol. I. 312. That other pries and pekes in everie place.-Gascoigne, p. 301. PEAKED. Sickly looking.-Todd. Applied to a person who But there was a lawyer, a standing up by the grove, lookin' as peaked and as forlorn as an unmated coon.-Sam Slick in England, ch. 11. PEA-NUT. The common name for the fruit of the arachis hypogea. It is also called the ground nut and earth nut. (French, pistache de terre.) PEARIFORM. Pear-shaped. A hybrid expression. |