Part 26

=Sky Sign.= A structure on the roof of a house of business for the purposes of a bold advertisement. This Transatlantic innovation has within the last few years been interdicted by order of the London County Council.

=Slacker.= An Eton term for one who never takes part in games; he cannot be coerced, and declines to exert himself in any way.

=Slate Club.= Originally a parochial thrift society whose members met in the schoolroom, their contributions being _pro tem_ entered on slates, conveniently at hand.

=Slick into it.= To do a thing right away, never pausing until it is finished. As a variant of “Polish it off” this expression is rightly employed, slick being derived from the German _schlicht_, polished, clean.

=Sling.= An American mixed drink, so called on account of the different ingredients slung into it.

=Sling your Hook.= Originally an abbreviated angler’s phrase: “Sling your hook a little farther along, and then we shall both have more room.”

=Slipper.= A shoe into which the foot is easily slipped, more particularly among the Orientals, who dispense with the back leather clasping the heel.

=Sloane Square.= After Sir Hans Sloane, the original owner of the estate, whose daughter became by marriage the first Countess of Cadogan.

=Slope.= To run away with expedition, as it were down the slope of a hill.

=Smile.= An Americanism for a “drink.” Unlike the common run of Americanisms, there is warranty for the term. When drinking their native beverage, “pulque,” the Mexicans look at one another, and smile. This custom has obtained with them ever since Montezuma gulped down this tipple offered to him by the hand of his daughter. See “Cocktail.”

=Smithfield.= A corruption of “Smoothfield,” a fine tract of meadow land on which mediæval tournaments were held, likewise horse races.

=Smith of Antwerp.= Quentin Matsys, the celebrated painter, who began life as a blacksmith.

=Smalls.= In theatrical parlance “the small towns.”

=Smart Set.= Originally an Americanism for the exclusive fashionable set of Boston society. The term has latterly travelled over to these shores, and the Smart Set of West End London does not appear to be beloved by Father Bernard Vaughan.

=Snapshot.= An Americanism for a photograph taken instantaneously with a portable camera. “Snap” is, however, a good old English word. We speak of a person being “snapped off” by disease--_i.e._ carried off suddenly.

=Sneesh-box.= Scottish for a snuff-box.

=Snob.= This term arose out of the expressions on the part of the vulgar whenever a conceited person who aped gentility was encountered: “He’s a nob,” “He’s not a nob,” or “He wants to make people believe he’s a nob,” until they resulted in the simple exclamation “Snob.” Such a word having once been established as the antithesis of “Nob,” a shoemaker merited the description of a Snob because his work was confined to the pedal extremities instead of the person’s head.

=Snow Hill.= A corruption of “Snore Hill,” so called because travellers by the stage-coach from Guildford were generally snoring by the time they reach their destination at the hill foot, “The Saracen’s Head.”

=Soaker.= Both in England and America this term denotes a habitual drunkard, soaked in liquor.

=Soane Museum.= This magnificent but little known collection of works of Art was acquired by Sir John Soane, the antiquary, at his residence in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where, subject to certain seasonal restrictions, it may be visited by anyone.

=Sociable.= An open carriage with two seats, thus admitting of its riders being face to face.

=Socialists.= A term of wide meaning, but according to its modern acceptation synonymous with “Levellers,” the adopted name of the malcontents of the time of Charles I., who sought to reduce society to a common level.

=Society Islands.= Named by Captain Cook in compliment to the Royal Society.

=Society of Jesus.= See “Jesuits.”

=Socinians.= The followers of Lælius Socinus, an Italian theologian of the sixteenth century. They held the same views as the modern “Unitarians.”

=Sock and Buskin.= The drama, alluding to the low and high shoe or sandal worn respectively by comic and tragic actors in the theatre of the ancients. The _soccus_ was a simple shoe, whereas the _brossquin_, a term remotely derived from the Greek _bursa_, a hide, extended to the knee, and was, moreover, two or three inches thick in the sole to increase the height of the performer.

=Sod.= A north country term for a mean, ignorant fellow, no better than a lout or clodhopper, in allusion to the sod of agriculture.

=Soft Soap.= Flattery, because, unlike the ordinary kind, soft soap is easily rubbed in.

=Soho.= A name pleasantly recalling the days when, prior to the sixteenth century, the whole of London westward of Drury Lane was open country. _So ho_ was the cry of the huntsmen when a hare broke cover, expressing the Norman-French for “See! Hie! (after him).”

=Soirée.= A sociable evening party, so called from the French _soir_, evening.

=Soldier of Fortune.= A soldier without fortune who seeks to make one by enlisting in any service which holds out the prospect of good pay.

=Solid Straight.= Another name for a “Straight Drink.”

=Somerset.= Described in Anglo-Saxon days as _Suthmorset_, the “South Moor Settlement.”

=Somerset House.= Covers the site of the palatial residence of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector of Edward VI. On the sequestration of his estates in 1552 this passed to the Crown, and became a virtual royal residence. Here the body of James I. lay in state; here too the queens of Charles I. and Charles II. took up their abode. The present edifice dates from 1766.

=Somers Town.= From Lord Somers, the owner of the estate.

=Sorbonne.= After its founder Robert de Sorbon, a canon of Cambrai in 1252.

=Souchong.= A species of black tea called by the Chinese _se-ou-chong_, “small, good quality.”

=Soudan.= Properly “Suden,” from the Arabic _Belad-ez-Suden_, “district of the blacks.”

=Southampton.= The south town on the Ant or Hantone. See “Hampshire.”

=Southampton Buildings.= Marks the site of Southampton House, in which lived and died the last Earl of Southhampton, Lord Treasurer of Charles II.

=Southampton Street.= After one of the family titles of the Duke of Bedford, the great ground landlord.

=South Audley Street.= See “Audley Street.”

=Southgate.= See “New Southgate.”

=Southwark.= A name which points to the Danish rule in England. The earliest London bridge of wood having been built in 1014, or two years before Canute seized upon the throne, this monarch took up his residence on the south bank of the Thames, and holding his Court there, styled it _Sydrike_, the Norse for “South Kingdom.” His successors also affected the Surrey side; as we know, Hardicanute died of a surfeit at Lambeth. By the Anglo-Saxons under Edward the Confessor the Danish _Sydrike_ was rendered _Suthwerk_, or South Fortification, whence we have derived the name in its present form.

=Southwick Crescent.= After Southwick Park, the country seat of the Thistlewaytes, at one time joint lessees of the manor of Paddington.

=Sovereign.= So called because when first struck, in the reign of Henry VIII., this gold coin had upon it a representation of that sovereign in his royal robes.

=Sovereign Pontiff.= The superior title of the Pope. See “Pontiff.”

=Spa.= From the town of the same name (which expresses the Flemish for “fountain”) in Belgium, the fashionable Continental resort during the seventeenth century.

=Spa Fields.= From an ancient public resort known as the “London Spa,” in connection with a medicinal well discovered during the thirteenth century. An account of the “Spa Fields Chapel,” originally a theatre, purchased by the Countess of Huntingdon, the name has survived to our own time.

=Spagnoletto.= See “Lo Spagnoletto.”

=Spain.= Called by the Carthaginians “Hispania,” from the Punic _span_, rabbit, on account of the wild rabbits which abounded in the peninsula. See “Iberia.”

=Spaniards.= This famous “house of call” for pedestrians across Highgate Heath was originally the private residence of the Spanish Ambassador to the Court of James I.

=Spaniel.= From _Hispaniola_, the old name of Hayti Island, in the West Indies, whence this breed of Spanish dog was introduced to Europe.

=Spanish Main.= The ancient designation of the waters around the West Indian Islands in the Caribbean Sea that rightly belonged to Spain.

=Spanish Place.= From the residence of the Spanish Ambassador during the eighteenth century. The private chapel attached to this mansion formed the nucleus of the present Catholic church.

=Sparking.= An Americanism for “courting.” There may be warranty for this in relation to “the spark of affection.”

=Spa Road.= From a long-forgotten spa or mineral well in this portion of Bermondsey.

=Spa Water.= Natural mineral waters drawn from a “Spa” or well.

=Speaker.= The official designation of the President of the House of Commons, to whom technically, the Members address themselves, though as a matter of fact, they address the country at large through the medium of the Press. Since he never speaks himself, except to rule a point of order, his title is a misnomer.

=Spencer.= A short overjacket introduced by the Earl of Spencer. This nobleman made a wager that he would set a new fashion by appearing abroad in any style of garment, however hideous it might be. He won his bet, for “Spencers” became popular.

=Specs.= Short for “spectacles.”

=Spelling Bee.= The name given to a competitive examination, in spelling in American schools, and later introduced in the cities as a fashionable pastime. From the States it reached England about a quarter of a century ago. The term “Bee” is essentially Transatlantic, being employed in the sense of a “hive” for any assemblage of workers--_e.g._ “a Sewing Bee.”

=Spindle City.= Lowell in Massachusetts, so called on account of its numerous cotton factories.

=Spinet.= An early form of pianoforte, so called because it was played upon exclusively by unmarried females, as a relaxation from the labours of the spindle.

=Spinster.= A maiden lady, so called from the distaff or spindle, the regular occupation of an unmarried female.

=Spiritualist.= One who cherishes a belief in the power of communicating with departed spirits through the instrumentality of a Medium.

=Spitalfields.= The derivation of this name is generally given as from an ancient priory of “St Mary of the Spittle.” This is wrong. There may have been such a priory, but if so, like the present parish church, its designation arose out of the “spital,” or hospital in the sense of an almshouse, founded in the fields for the poor by Walter Brune and his wife during the reign of Richard Cœur de Lion.

=Spithead.= This famous roadstead, so eminently adapted for naval reviews, received its name from being situated at the head of the “spit” or sandbank which extends along the coast for three miles.

=Spitzbergen.= Danish for “sharp-pointed mountains,” relative to the mountain peaks in these islands.

=Spook.= Expresses the Dutch for “ghost.” Introduced to the United States by the early settlers of New York, this term has obtained currency on both sides of the Atlantic in connection with Spiritualism.

=Spooning.= This word is a play on “billing and cooing.” Courting couples in the act of whispering “soft nothings” have their mouths in such close contact that it resembles the manner of a mother bird feeding her young brood.

=Sporting Women.= An Americanism for “gay women.”

=Spouting.= Colloquial for public speaking, because the orator indulges in a constant flow of rhetoric, like water issuing from a pump spout.

=Sprat Day.= 9th November, the opening of the London sprat-selling season.

=Spread Eagle.= An inn sign adopted from the arms of Germany, indicative of the fact that the wines of that country were to be had on the premises.

=Spreads himself.= Said of one in America who makes an ostentatious display of self-conceit. The allusion is to a peacock spreading its tail feathers to their utmost capacity.

=Spring Gardens.= So called because at this north-eastern entrance to St James’s Park unwitting pedestrians were suddenly drenched by a spray of water through stepping on a hidden spring. This was considered fine sport for the gallants who looked on during the Restoration period.

=Spring Heel Jack.= The sobriquet of the eccentric Marquis of Waterford, who about a century ago cultivated the habit of frightening people after nightfall by springing upon them out of obscure corners and alleys. It was said that terror of the streets had steel springs fitted to his heels for the purpose.

=Square Meal.= An Americanism for a full meal, which can only be enjoyed at the table, in contradistinction to a snack at a luncheon bar.

=Squatter.= Literally one who squats down on land to which he has no legal title.

=Squaw.= Algonquin for an Indian woman.

=Stafford.= The county town of the shire derived this name from the ancient mode of fording the River Sow, upon which it stands, by means of staves or stilts.

=Stage-coach.= So called from the stages or degrees of the whole journey, at each of which the coach pulled up to change horses and refresh the travellers.

=Staines.= From the Saxon _stane_, stone, the boundary mark set up beside the Thames, bearing date 1280, and the inscription: “God preserve the City of London.” This defined the western limits of jurisdiction claimed by the Thames Conservancy or Water Board.

=Stand Sam.= An Americanism for to “stand treat,” which originated among the soldiers during the Civil War. When billeted upon the people they demanded liquor by wholesale, saying that “Uncle Sam” would pay for it, and it was everyone’s duty to stand Sam. See “Uncle Sam.”

=Stanhope.= An open carriage named in compliment to the Earl of Stanhope, author and politician.

=Stanhope Gate.= This entrance to Hyde Park, in Park Lane, received its name from Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, residing at Chesterfield House close by.

=Staples Inn.= Properly “Staplers’ Inn,” the ancient Hall of the Woolstaplers, styled Merchants of the Staple.

=Star and Garter.= An inn or tavern sign commemorative of the institution of the Order of the Garter by Edward III.

=Star Chamber.= This historic court received its name not from the stars decorating the ceiling, as generally stated, but because it was the ancient depository of the _Starra_, or Jewish records, at the order of Richard I.

=Start your Boots.= An Americanism for “Be off!” “Walk away.”

=Starvation Dundas.= The sobriquet of Henry Dundas, created Lord Melville, owing to his constant repetition of the word “Starvation” in the course of a debate on American affairs in 1775.

=State of Spain.= New Jersey. After the battle of Waterloo Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon I., fled to New Jersey, and, settling on an estate at Borderstown, gathered so many Frenchmen and Spaniards around him that the Philadelphians regarded the people of this state generally as Spaniards and foreigners. At this time Joseph Bonaparte was nominally King of Naples and of Spain.

=Stationer.= This term was not derived from “Stationery,” since the latter grew out of the former. Ancient so-called booksellers were of two kinds: the itinerants, and the stallholders in open market. Both dealt in such books as were known at the time--hornbooks and the like--but principally in writing materials, and as the stationery booksellers had a more varied assortment than the pedlars, pen, ink, and paper eventually received the name of “stationery,” and their vendors that of “stationers.”

=Steelyard.= The name given to a weighing machine on which a single weight is moved along a graduated beam. This has no reference to a “yard” measure, but to the ancient Steelyard near London Bridge, where the German merchants of old landed, weighed, and sold their fine steel.

=Steeplechase.= This term originated in a race by a party of unsuccessful fox hunters, who agreed to run a race to the village church, the steeple of which was visible a couple of miles away, the one who touched its stones with his whip first being declared the winner.

=Stepney.= A corruption of “Stebenhithe,” after the owner of a hithe or wharf on this portion of the Thames bank in Anglo-Saxon days.

=Sterling Money.= That originally coined in this country by the “Esterlings,” the name given to the people of the Hanse Towns in the eastern portion of Germany, at the invitation of King John. The purity of the Esterling coinage was above reproach, whereas that of England anterior to the mission of the Hansa merchants to reform it had long become debased.

=Sterling Silver.= Genuine silver in its natural purity as opposed to “German Silver,” an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc first made in Germany. See “Sterling Money.”

=Stick a Pin there.= An Americanism for “make a note of it as a reminder.” Dressmakers always stick a pin to mark the place where material is to be stitched or taken in.

=Stiletto.= Expresses the diminutive of the Italian _stilo_, a dagger.

=Stingo.= See “Yorkshire Stingo.”

=Stock.= This flower received its name from the circumstance that it was largely sold in the Stocks Market (so called on account of a pair of stocks that stood there), on part of the site of which the Mansion House was erected in 1737.

=Stock Exchange.= For the application of the term “Stock” to money, see “Government Stock.”

=Stockwell.= From an ancient well discovered in a _stoke_ or wood.

=Stoke Newington.= Expresses the new town in the meadow adjacent to a _stoke_, or wood, in reference to “Enfield Chase.” See “New Southgate.”

=Stonecutter Street.= From the lapidaries who congregated here in ancient days.

=Stone Jug.= See “In the Jug.”

=Stones End.= See “Stony Street.”

=Stonewall Jackson.= This sobriquet of General Jackson originated with General Lee during the American Civil War. Rallying his troops after the battle of Bull Run, he exclaimed, pointing in the direction with his sword: “There is Jackson, standing like a stone wall!”

=Stony Street.= So called from the nature of this portion of the great Roman highway to Dover, in continuation of “Watling Street,” north of the Thames.

=Store.= An Americanism for a shop or warehouse.

=Storey’s Gate.= Marks the site of the residence of Edward Storey, keeper of the royal aviary of Charles II. in that portion of St James’s Park known as Birdcage Walk.

=Stormy Petrel.= A sea-bird, the appearance of which is regarded as a portent of storms. Its Italian name, _Petrillo_, expresses the diminutive of Peter, in allusion to St Peter, who walked on the sea, because, instead of flying in the air, this bird habitually skims on the surface of the water.

=Storthing.= From the Norse _stor_, great, and _thing_, court, the Norwegian and Swedish House of Assembly.

=Stout.= This black alcoholic beverage is so called because it contains more body and nourishment than ale or beer.

=Stradivarius.= A violin made by the celebrated Antonio Stradivari of Cremona; generally abbreviated into “Strad.”

=Straight Drink.= An Americanism for a drink of pure, undiluted spirit.

=Strand.= The name given to the north bank of the Thames (from the Norse _strönd_, shore, border) in days when, with the exception of a few princely houses dotted here and there, the whole of this portion of London was open country.

=Straphanger.= A term which has come into vogue since the introduction of electrified railways, the trains being so crowded in the morning and evening that straps are provided for standing passengers to cling to _en route_.

=Strasburg.= This name was first heard of in the fifth century, expressing the German for a fortified town on the _strass_ or _strata_, the great Roman highway into Gaul.

=Stratford.= From the Latin _strata_, road, way; that portion of the old Roman highway where the River Lea had to be forded. In Chaucer’s time this little town, situated a long distance out of London, was described as “Stratford-a-te-Bow,” in allusion to “Bow Bridge.”

=Stratford Place.= After Edward Stratford, the second Lord Aldborough, who leased the ground for building purposes from the Corporation of the City of London in 1775.

=Stratton Street.= After Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the owner of the district now comprised in Mayfair, _temp._ Charles I.

=Strenuous Life.= The antithesis of the “Simple Life.”

=Stuarts.= This dynasty received its name from the fact that Walter, the Lord High Steward of Scotland, married the daughter of King Robert the Bruce. Since this Walter was the sixth of his line honoured with such a position, he was said to belong to the Stewards, which, eventually corrupted into “Stuarts,” resulted in a family name.

=Stumped.= To have no money left. See “Stump up.”

=Stump Orator.= One who harangues a crowd from the stump of a tree.

=Stump Speech.= A term popularised in this country through the minstrel entertainment, being an extempore speech delivered to the Negroes of the southern states from the stump of a tree.

=Stump the Country.= Colloquial for an electioneering campaign, derived from the practice of political agents in the United States addressing the people at large from a convenient tree stump.

=Stump up.= Originally an Americanism for “put down your money.” After delivering a speech for a benevolent object the “Stump Orator” stepped down, and the people around laid their contributions on the tree stump.

=Suabia.= See “Servia.”

=Sub.= Short for “subsidise,” or to draw something in advance of one’s salary.

=Sub Rosa.= “Under the Rose”--_i.e._ strictly between ourselves. It was the custom of the Teutons when they assembled at a feast, to suspend a rose from the ceiling as a reminder that whatever might be said concerning their absent friends should not be repeated.

=Subtle Doctor.= Duns Scotus, the schoolman and prince of metaphysicians, whose subtlety of reasoning has never been equalled in ancient or modern times.

=Sucked in.= An expression derived from “Buying a pig in a poke.” See “Let the Cat out of the Bag.”

=Sucker State.= Illinois, so called from the Galena lead miners, who disappeared during the winter and returned to Galena in the spring, when the sucker-fish in the Fevre River abounded. The people of this state are accordingly styled “Suckers.”

=Suffolk.= A corruption of “South Folk,” the inhabitants of the southern division of East Anglia.

=Suffolk Lane.= From the ancient town house of the Dukes of Suffolk.

=Suffolk Street.= From Suffolk House, the residence of the Earls of Suffolk in former days.