An essay on the archÃ|ology of our popular phrases and nursery rhymes

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1837. Excerpt: ... QUANDARY. A dilemma, perplexity, agitation of mind, disturbance in thought; but always used in regard to fantastical distress, whimsical anxiety of mind, and is in truth a ludicrous term. Ghewaend-deere; q. e. distress infancy, imaginary mischief, supposititious disaster, evil hatched in the imagination. Ghewaend the past participle of waenen, waanen, to fancy, to imagine. Deere, dere, deijre, hurt, injury, mischief. Johnson has adopted from Skynner the French expression qu'en dirai je? for the etymology of this phrase; but that expression has neither the sound nor the sense of quandary; What shall I say to it? implies a real dilemma; not an imaginary nor a ludicrous one. Ghew, gew sounds as qu, deere, as dary. LIVELIHOOD. Condition of life; the way of living, maintenance. Evidently the same word with the older livelod, in the same meaning. Lijve-lot; q. e. the lot of life; fortune of life; state allotted to us; our destiny; destined state of our life. To get one's livelihood, is to make one's fortune (state of life), to procure that which we live on; the means we live by. To get is, properly, to shape, form, cast, as will be explained at that word. Lijve was formerly as lijf, in the import of life, and was so with us in Chaucer's day. Loot, lote, lot, lot, fortune, chance; to be explained by and by. "As Ankers and Hermets that hold hem in her selles And coveten nought in contrey to carien aboute For no liquerous Livelode her likamt to please." Vis. Pierce Plowm. "And eke it is thy profite, and thyn ese also To be blind as thou art: for now wherso thow go, Thou hast thy Livelode, while thou art alyve, And yf thow myghtest se, thow shouldst nevir thryve." Chaucer. Their cells. 't Body. "To all true tidy men, that travell desyren, Our loid loveth hem and ...