digestion. Aat-berne; q. e. food-burning; the sensation of burning [heat] caused by food taken into the stomach; a feel resembling that of heat in the stomach, proceeding from something which has been taken into it, and which does not amalgamate with the digestive menstruum of that viscus. Aet, aat, eatables, food, that which is eaten; aspirate aat, where the double a has a very broad and lengthened sound, and you have our utterance of heart. Bernen, barnen, branden, to burn, whence also our old to bren and to brennin, so frequently occurring in CHAUCER, in the import of to burn. But heartburning, in the import of inward discontent, envy, inalignant feeling, is as haet berning [barning]; q.e. burning hate, flagrant hatred. Haet, hate, hatred, and sounds heart. Berning is the antiquated form of the participle present of the above explained bernen, barnen, to burn. In the first instance acidity in the stomach can plainly have nothing to do with over-heat in the heart; nor in the second can discontent arise from the same cause in the same organ. So that both are travesties of originals bearing the true meaning in which we now use the phrases "How tartly that gentleman looks! I never can see him but I am HEART-BURNED * an hour afterwards." SHAKSPEARE. "In great changes, when the right of inheritance is broke there will remain much HEART-BURNING † and discontent among the meaner people."-SWIFT TO POPE. * Here by way of pun or play upon the word tartly, in the sense of sourly [acidly]; as thus importing he looks so sourly that he gives me the heart-burn for an hour after I have seen him. JOHNSON has evidently misconceived the phrase in this place, when he explained it, as, having the heart inflamed. + Jealousy, suspicion; as the passion lighted up in the heart by what has been done. VOL. II. I Upon the tresses of Richesse Of BRENDE* golde, that full light yshone, But he were knowing † for the nones ‡, That in that circle shewin clere."-Chaucer. A HOT-HEADED MAN. One who acts and speaks as if his brain was turned [deranged] by passion; one whose conduct bespeaks a change from a rational to an irrational state of mind. Er hotte heet'et m'aen; what is said there, comes from a state turned into one of disorder [confusion]; what he says evinces a state changed from its proper nature, from a natural [sound] state of mind, to an undue, or deranged one. Hotte, as the participle present of hotten, to curd, to curdle, to change from the usual and regular form or shape to another which is not the natural [sound] or original one. Milk is no longer milk when turned, but serum [whey] and curd, and the head when turned by fury from its usual sound [natural] state is no longer the head in its true [regular] state. Heet'et, heet het (spoke it) sounds headed. We say, the blood curdled in the veins, in the import of became disturbed [disordered] by some shocking sight or event. "His chang'd powers at first themselves not felt Till CURDLED cold his courage gan t' assail.”—SPENser. "One would not make the same person zealous for a standing army and publick liberty; nor a пOTHEADED, crackbrained, coxcomb forward for a scheme of moderation."-ARBUTHNOT. "And hope is lasse and lasse alway Pandare! So welawaie, why n'ill my herte brest § ? *Burning, burnished. + Knowing, cunning. Nonce, purpose, design. § A metathesis of berst, burst. * Pandare answerid, friend, chou maiest for me, Though al this toun cried on this thing by note, For when men have cried, than woll they roun't, CHAUCER. I suspect our term hot, is never the true præterite of to heat, which is heated, but ever as the above explained word. A hot poker, is a poker changed from its usual state by the effect of fire, and so far implies heat, as fire is the mean of the change; but we also say, a hot firing of small arms, where heat can have nothing to do, for we only mean a quick irregular state of firing [or shooting] with small arms. A hot chase, is a disorderly [irregular] chace, but has no relation to heat. A hot scent, is one which sets the hounds into a state of irregular headlong pursuit, a pursuit where the course is altered to one of greater but irregular rapidity; and what can heat have to do there? To trace the source of hot in this view of its import would be too round-about and tedious for this article. Of the word heat, it will be spoken in some other page. HORNE TOOKE says hot is the past participle of to heat, but that is heated, and not hot. HOITY TOITY. A homely exclamation [expression] on witnessing some scene of noisy mirth, some boisterous game of romps. Hooitij stoeijetij; q. e. hay time, toying time; haymaking time, the time for romping, [pastime]. Hooi, hoy, heuy, hey, hay. Tij, tye, * Bungled it, confused it, got into this state of disorder, into this scrape, not as MR. URRY supposes ordered it, as grounded in heeten, to command. + To speak softly, to whisper. tijde, season time. Stoeijen, to romp, to toy, to play wantonly together as was done among the haymakers, at that period, in the hay fields. A JOLTHEAD. Er A fool, a dunce, a dolt, a block-head. jool t'heete; q. e. there is he who can be called no other than fool, there is he who every body must name fool, one who has fool written in his very countenance. Jool, fool, simpleton. T', te, to. Heete as the participle present of heeten, to name, to call, and te heete is to the very calling, so that he can be called nothing else. JOHNSON gives also the sense of a great head, to this term, but no etymology for it. I suspect it never had this meaning but by error; we say, a great jolthead, in the import of a great fool, and perhaps the idea of a great head has arisen from this epithet, which if the term really meant a great head would be tautology. "Fie on thee, JOLTHEAD, thou can'st not read !" "And stode right at her bedd'is fete, A TOM TIT. The little bird known by that term as well as by that of titmouse. Er dom tijt; q. e. there is the silent tit [little bird]; the little bird that neither sings nor makes any noise; the little bird which nobody hears. Titmouse is as tijt mosch; q. e. the little bird of the sparrow kind; a little species of sparrow. Tijt, is as the smallest of the bird kind and as the antiquated tiet, the smallest of the pecking tribe, grounded in titten, tieten, to push against, to peck; whence our term tittle, a point, a particle, the least possible; perhaps also the French Was named, by name, as she was called, latterly spelt hight in the same sense. petit. Een vuile of boze tiet; is a popular expression for a nasty spiteful female that pecks at [flies at] every body. Dom, dumb, silent, also stupid, dull, foolish. Mosch, musch, a sparrow, founded in the antiquated mose, œstrum, salacitas. "The nightingale is sovereign of the song, Before him sits the TITMOUSE silent by, And I unfit to thrust in skilfull throng, Should Colin make judge of my foolerie."-SPENSER. "The TITMOUSE and the peckers hungry brood DRYDEN. TO RIDE THE GREAT HORSE. To speak pompously, to assume a commanding tone in conversation, to play the part of a selfimportant personage. Te raede de gereed hoore's; q. e. to your decree the ear is ready; to the resolve you are going to make the attention is upon the harkening; but raede, as a sententiously stated resolve, being a rather formal and over-solemn term, in common discourse gives to the expression a degree of irony [ridicule] which survives in the application of the travesty now in use among us. Raede, raad, opinion, advice, council, resolve, decree, conclusion come to, determination formed in the mind; and sounds as we pronounce ride. Gereed, ready [de gereed geld, is, the ready money] and sounds great. Hoore, oore, oor, ear, hearing. S, is, is. Hoore's sounds horse. "The laughter arose of gentil foulis al, And right anone the sede* foules chosin had, Birds that eat seed, as distinguished from those which feed on worms, carrion, fish, &c. + Sober truth. |