Phrases and Names Their Origins and Meanings : 'D' (영어 이름과 표현의 의미와 유래)

Dachshund. German for “badger-dog.”

Daffodil. An English corruption of the French d’Asphodel.

Dagonet. The pseudonym of Mr George R. Sims in The Referee, after the jester at the Court of King Arthur.

Daguerreotype. An early process of photography discovered by L. J. M. Daguerre.

Dahlgreen Gun. After its inventor, an officer in the United States Navy.

Dahlia. Introduced to Europe from Mexico in 1784 by Andrew Dahl, the Swedish botanist.

Daisy. From the Anglo-Saxon dæges eye, or “day’s eye,” on account of its sunlike appearance.

Dakota. From the Dacoits, a tribe of Indians found there.

Dale Road. From the residence of Canon Dale, poet, and Vicar of St Pancras.

Dalmatian. A species of dog bred in Dalmatia.

Dalston. The town in the dale when the north of London was more or less wooded.

Damage. See “What’s the Damage?”

Damascenes. From Damascus, famous for its plums.

Damascus. From the Arabic name of the city, Dimiskesh-Shâm.

Damascus Blade. From Damascus, a city world famous for the temper of its sword blades.

Damask. First made at Damascus in Syria.

Damask Rose. Introduced to Europe from Damascus.

Damassin. A Damask cloth interwoven with flowers of gold or silver.

Dame School. The old name for a girls’ school taught by a spinster or dame.

Damsons. Properly Damascenes, from Damascus.

Dancing Chancellor. Sir Christopher Hatton so pleased Queen Elizabeth by his dancing at a Court masque that she made him a Knight of the Garter; subsequently he became Lord Chancellor of England.

Dandelion. A corruption of the French dent de lion, from its fancied resemblance to a lion’s tooth.

Dandy. From the French dandin, silly fellow, ninny.

Dantzic. Expresses the town settled by the Danes.

Danvers Street. From Danvers House, in which resided Sir John Danvers, to whom the introduction of the Italian style of horticulture in England was due.

Darbies. A pair of handcuffs, in allusion to Darby and Joan, who were inseparable.

Dardanelles. After the city on the Asiatic side founded by Dardanus, the ancestor of Priam, the last king of Troy.

Dark and Bloody Ground. Kentucky, the great battle-ground of the Indians and white settlers, as also that of the savage tribes amongst themselves.

Darmstadt. The stadt, or town, on the Darm.

Dartford. From the Saxon Darentford, the fort on the Darent.

Dartmoor. The moor in which the River Dart takes its rise.

Dartmouth. On the estuary of the River Dart.

Dauphin. The title borne by the eldest son of the King of France until 1830, from the armorial device of a delphinus, or dolphin.

Davenport. After the original maker.

Davies Street. After Mary Davies, heiress of the manor of Ebury, Pimlico.

Davis Strait. After the navigator who discovered it.

Davy Jones’s Locker. Properly “Duffy Jonah’s Locker.” Duffy is the ghost of the West Indian Negroes; Jonah, the prophet cast into the sea; and “locker,” the ordinary seaman’s chest.

D. D. Cellars. See “Dirty Dick’s.”

Dead as a Door Nail. The reflection that, if a man were to be knocked on the head as often as is the “nail” on which a door knocker rests, he would have very little life left in him, easily accounts for this saying.

Dead Beat. Prostrate from fatigue, incapable of further exertion. Also the name of an American drink of whisky and ginger-soda after a hard night’s carousal.

Deadheads. In America persons who enjoy the right of travelling on a railway system at the public expense; in this country actors and pseudo “professionals,” who pass into places of amusement without paying. The origin of the term is as follows:--More than sixty years ago all the principal avenues of the city of Delaware converged to a toll gate at the entrance to the Elmwood Cemetery Road. The cemetery having been laid out long prior to the construction of the plank road beyond the toll gate, funerals were allowed to pass through the latter toll free. One day as Dr Price, a well-known physician, stopped to pay his toll he observed to the gatekeeper: “Considering the benevolent character of the profession to which I have the honour to belong, I think you ought to let me pass toll free.” “No, no, doctor,” the man replied; “we can’t afford that. You send too many deadheads through here as it is!” The story travelled, and the term “Deadheads” became fixed.

Dead Reckoning. Calculating a ship’s whereabouts at sea from the log-book without aid from the celestial bodies.

Dead Sea. Traditionally on the site of the city of Sodom. Its waters are highly saline, and no fish are found in them.

Dean Street. After Bishop Compton, who, before he became Dean of the Savoy Chapel, held the living of St Anne’s, Soho.

Dean’s Yard. Affords access to the residence of the Dean of Westminster, which, with the cloisters, belonged to the abbots prior to the Reformation.

Death or Glory Men. The 17th Lancers, from their badge, a Death’s head superposed on the words “Or Glory.”

De Beauvoir Town. From the manorial residence of the De Beauvoirs.

Deccan. From the Sanskrit Dakshina, the south, being that portion of Hindustan south of the Vindhya Mountains.

December. The tenth month of the Roman Calendar when the year was reckoned from March.

Decemvir. One of the ten legislators of Rome appointed to draw up a code of laws.

Decoration Day. 30th May, observed in the United States for decorating the graves of the soldiers who fell in the struggle between the North and South.

Deemster. See “Doomster.”

Dehaley Street. From the residence of the Dehaleys.

Delaware. After the Governor of Virginia, Thomas West, Lord Delaware, who died on board his vessel while visiting the bay in 1610.

Del Salviati. The assumed name of the famous Italian painter Francesco Rossi, in compliment to his patron, Cardinal Salviati, who was born in the same year as himself.

Demijohn. A corruption of Damaghan, in Persia, a town anciently famous for its glass-ware.

75Democracy. From the Greek demos, people, and kratein, to rule. Government by the people.

Denbigh. From Dinbach, the Celtic for “a little fort.”

Denmark. Properly Danmark, the mark or boundary of the land of the Danes.

Depot. The American term for a railway station.

Deptford. The deep ford over the Ravensbourne.

Derby. Saxon for “deer village.” The Derby stakes at Epsom were founded by Edward Smith Stanley, Earl of Derby, in 1780.

Derrick. The old name for a gibbet and now for a high crane. So called after a seventeenth-century hangman at Tyburn.

Derry Down. The opening words of the Druidical chorus as they proceeded to the sacred grove to gather mistletoe at the winter solstice. Derry is Celtic for “grove.”

Dessborough Place. From Dessbrowe House, in which resided the brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell.

Detroit. French for “strait.”

Deuteronomy. A Greek word signifying the second giving of the Law by Moses.

Devereaux Court. See “Essex Street.”

Devil’s Sonata. One of Tartini’s most celebrated compositions. He dreamt that the Evil One appeared to him playing a sonata on the violin. At its conclusion his visitor asked: “Tartini, canst thou play this?” Awaking with his mind still full of the grotesque music, Tartini played it over, and then recorded it permanently on paper.

Devil to Pay. When money was lost by unsuccessful litigation it passed into the hands of lawyers, who were thought to spend it where they spent much of their time--viz. at the Devil Tavern in Fleet Street. The money, therefore, went to the Devil.

Devizes. From the Latin Devisæ, denoting the point where the old Roman road passed into the district of the Celts.

Devon. After a Celtic tribe, the Damnonii.

Devonshire House. The town house of the Duke of Devonshire.

Devonshire Square. From the mansion of William Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire, who died here in 1628.

Diamond King. The late Mr Alfred Beit, the South African financier, whose wealth rivalled that of the Rothschilds.

Dickey. A shirt front, which often has to do duty for a clean shirt. So called from the German decken, to hide.

Diddler. A schemer, an artful dodger. After Jeremy Diddler, the chief character in the old farce, “Raising the Wind.”

Die Hards. The 57th Foot. When the regiment was surrounded at Albuera, their Colonel cried: “Die hard, my lads; die hard!” And fighting, they died.

Digger Indians. Tribes of the lowest class who live principally upon roots. They have never been known to hunt.

Diggings. A Bohemian term for “lodgings.” Not from the Californian gold diggings, as generally supposed, but from the Galena lead miners of Wisconsin, who called both their mines and their underground winter habitations “diggings.”

Dime. A ten-cent piece, from the French dixme, or dîme, tenth--i.e. of a dollar.

Dimity. First brought from Damietta, Egypt.

Dine with Duke Humphrey. An old saying of those who were fated to go dinnerless. When the “Good Duke Humphrey,” son of Henry IV., was buried at St Albans, a monument to his memory was to be erected in St Paul’s Cathedral. At that time, as for long afterwards, the nave of our national fane was a fashionable promenade. When the promenaders left for dinner, others who had no dinners to go to explained that they would stay behind in order to look for the Good Duke’s monument.

Dining-room Servant. An Americanism for waiter or male house servant.

Diorama. See “Panorama.”

Dirty Dick’s. The noted tavern in Bishopgate, said to have been associated with Nathaniel Bentley, the miser, who never washed himself. As a matter of fact, Dirty Dick was an ironmonger in Leadenhall Street. After his death his effects were bought and exhibited at the Bishopgate tavern, together with his portrait as a sign.

Dirty Shirts. The 101st Foot, who were hotly engaged at the battle of Delhi in their shirt sleeves.

Dissenters. Synonymous with the Nonconformists. Those who dissented from the doctrines of the Church of England and those likewise who, at a later period, separated from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Distaffs’ Day. The old name for 7th January, when, Christmas being over with Twelfth Night, women returned to their distaffs or spindles.

Divan. A Turkish word signifying a Council of State, from the fact that the Turkish Council Chamber has low couches ranged round its walls, plentifully supplied with cushions. The name has been imported into Western Europe specifically to imply a low-cushioned sofa or couch.

Dixie’s Land. The Negroes’ paradise in slavery days. Dixie had a tract of land on Manhattan Island. He treated his slaves well, but as they increased sold many of them off to masters further afield. They always looked back to Dixie’s Land as an ideal locality, associated with heaven, and when one of them died his kith and kin said he had gone to Dixie’s Land.

Dizzy. The nickname of Benjamin Disraeli, afterwards Earl of Beaconsfield, the great political opponent of Mr Gladstone.

Doctor. There are three kinds of Doctors--of Law, Physic, and Divinity. The first and the last are essentially University degrees, with which the vulgar orders of the people have little or no acquaintance. They know only of one “Doctor,” the medical practitioner, and since he wears a frock coat and a silk hat he is entitled to all the respect that they can pay him.

Doctors’ Commons. Anciently a college for Professors of Canon and Civil Law, who dined in common on certain days in each term, similar to students at the Inns of Court before they are called to the Bar.

Dog and Duck. A tavern sign indicative of the old sport of duck hunting by spaniels in a pond.

Dog-cart. Originally one in which sportsmen drove their pointers and setters to the field.

Dog his Footsteps. To follow close to his heels like a dog.

Dog in the Manger. From the old story told of the dog who did not require the hay for himself, yet refused to allow the ox to come near it.

Dog Rose. From the old idea that the root of this rose-tree was an antidote for the bite of a mad dog.

Dog Watch. A corruption of “Dodge Watch,” being a watch of two hours only instead of four, by which dodging seamen gradually shift their watch on successive days.

Dolgelley. Celtic for “dale of hazels.”

Dollar. From the German Thaler, originally Joachims-Thaler, the silver out of which this coin was struck having been found in the Thal or Valley of St Joachim in Bohemia.

Dollars and Dimes. An Americanism for money generally. See “Dime.”

Dolly Shop. The old name for a rag shop which had a black doll over the door for a sign. At one time old clothes were shipped to the Negroes in the southern states of America.

Dolly Varden. The name of a flowered skirt, answering to the description of that worn by Dolly Varden in Dickens’s “Barnaby Rudge.” This dress material became very popular after the novel was published. It also gave rise to a song, of which the burden was: “Dressed in a Dolly Varden.”

Dolphin. A gold coin introduced by Charles V. of France, also Dauphin of Vienne.

Dominica. Expresses the Spanish for Sunday, the day on which Columbus discovered this island.

Dominicans. Friars of the Order of St Dominic; also called Black Friars, from their habits.

Dominoes. A game invented by two French monks, who amused themselves with square, flat stones marked with spots. The winner declared his victory by reciting the first line of the Vesper service: “Dixit Dominus Domino Meo.” When, later, the game became the recreation of the whole convent, the Vesper line was abbreviated into “Domino,” and the stones themselves received the name of “Dominoes.”

Don. A corruption of the Celtic tain, river.

Donatists. A sect of the fourth century, adherents of Donatus, Bishop of Numidia.

Doncaster St Leger. The stakes at Doncaster races founded by Colonel Anthony St Leger in 1776.

Donegal. Gaelic for the “fortress of the west”--viz. Donegal Castle, held by the O’Donnels of Tyrconnel.

Donet. The old name for a Grammar, after Donatus, the grammarian and preceptor of St Jerome.

Donkey. An ass, from its dun colour.

Don’t care a Dam. When this expression first obtained currency a dam was the smallest Hindoo coin, not worth an English farthing.

Don’t care a Jot. See “Iota.”

Doomster. The official in the Scottish High Court who pronounced the doom to the prisoner, and also acted as executioner. In Jersey and the Isle of Man a judge is styled a “Deemster.”

Dope Habit. An Americanism for the morphia habit. “Dope” is the Chinese word for opium. This in the United States is now applied to all kinds of strong drugs or bromides prepared from opium.

Dorcas Society. From the passage in Acts ix. 39: “And all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them.”

Dorchester. The Roman camp in the district of the Dwr-trigs or water dwellers. See “Dorset.”

Dorset. The Anglo-Saxon Dwrset, or water settlement, so called from the British tribe the Dwr-trigs, “water dwellers,” who peopled it.

Dorset Square. After Viscount Portman, the ground landlord, who, before he was raised to the peerage, was for many years Member for Dorsetshire.

Dorset Street. From the mansion and grounds of the Earl of Dorset of the Restoration period. Here stood also the Dorset Gardens Theatre.

Doss. Slang for a sleep, a shakedown. From the old word dossel, a bundle of hay or straw, whence was derived Doss, a straw bed.

Doss-house. A common lodging-house. See “Doss.”

Douay Bible. The Old Testament translation of the Latin Vulgate printed at the English College at Douay, France, in 1609.

Doublet. So called because it was double lined or wadded, originally for purposes of defence.

Douglas. From its situation at the juncture of the two streams, the Dhoo, black, and Glass, grey.

Douro. From the Celtic Dwr, water.

Dover House. The residence of the Hon. George Agar Ellis, afterwards Lord Dover.

Dover Street. After Henry Jermyn, Lord Dover, who died at his residence here in 1782.

Dowager. The widow of a person of high rank, because she enjoyed a substantial dower or dowry for her maintenance during life.

Dowgate. From the Celtic Dwr, water. Hence a water gate on the north bank of the Thames.

Downing Street. From the mansion of Sir George Downing, M.P., of the Restoration period.

Down with the Dust. A gold miner’s expression in the Far West, where money is scarce and necessary commodities are in general bartered for with gold dust.

Doyley. From the Brothers Doyley, linen drapers in the Strand, who introduced this species of table napery.

Do your Level Best. This expression means that, while striving to the utmost you must also act strictly straightforward.

Drachenfels. German for “dragon rocks.” Here Siegfried, the hero of the Niebelungenlied, slew the dragon.

Draft on Aldgate Pump. A punning phrase for a worthless bill or cheque.

Draggletail. A slovenly woman who allows her skirts to draggle or trail in the mire of the street.

Dragoman. From the Turkish drukeman, an interpreter. A dragoman is in the East what a “Cicerone” is in Italy and elsewhere in Western Europe.

Dragoons. From the ancient musket called a dragon, or “spitfire.” The muzzle was embellished with a representation of a dragon.

Draper. One who dealt in cloth for draping only, as distinct from a mercer, milliner, or mantle-maker.

Drapers’ Gardens. The property of the Drapers’ Company, whose hall is situated here.

Drat it. A corruption of “Odd rot it,” from the old oath, “God rot them.”

Drawer. The old name for an inn or tavern keeper’s assistant, who drew the beer from the casks.

Drawing-room. Originally “Withdrawing-room” to which the ladies withdrew after dinner while the gentlemen sat over their wine.

Draw it mild. Originally a tavern phrase, when anyone preferred ordinary ale to hot spiced liquor.

Draw the Long Bow. In allusion to the exaggerated skill of the English archers prior to the introduction of gunpowder.

Dress Circle. That portion of a theatre which, before the introduction of stalls, was set apart for the superior sections of the audience.

Dressed up to the Knocker. To the extreme height of his resources. Before the establishment of the modern police system door knockers were placed as high as possible to prevent them from being wrenched off by sportive wags after nightfall.

Dresser. The kitchen sideboard, on which the meat was dressed before serving it up in the dining-chamber. The collection of cups, plates, and dishes which distinguishes a dresser originally had a place on a wide shelf or board over this meat dresser; hence cup-board.

Drinks like a Fish. Ready to swallow any quantity of liquor that may be offered. A great many fish have their mouths wide open whilst swimming.

Drive a Bargain. An expression meaning to knock down the original price asked, in punning allusion to “driving” a nail.

Drop o’ the Crater. See “Mountain Dew.”

Druid. In the Celtic Derwydd, derived from dewr, oak, and gwydd, knowledge. A priest who worshipped and offered sacrifices under an oak.

Drum. The name for a fashionable evening party of bygone days, from the noise made by the card players.

Drummers. An Americanism for commercial travellers, who are engaged in beating up trade.

Drunkard’s Cloak. A large wooden crinoline that hung from a drunkard’s neck to the ground, causing every bone in his body to ache owing to the weight resting on his shoulders. The instrument resembled an inverted flower pot, having a hole in the top for his head to be thrust through. Under this drastic treatment he soon became sober.

Drunk as a Fiddler. The fiddler was generally incapable of discoursing further music half way through the night’s jollification, because the dancers freely plied him with drink.

Drunk as a Lord. When George the Third was King, and long afterwards, the fine old English gentleman acted up to his character by using strong language and imbibing strong potations. To be “drunk as a lord” was the surest mark of gentility, and a “three bottle man” a pattern of sobriety. After dining it was considered no disgrace to roll helplessly under the table.

Drury Lane. From Drury House, the residence of Sir William Drury, temp. William III.

Dublin. From Dubh-linn, “black pool.”

Dub Up. An expression derived from the very general custom of dubbing or touching a man on the shoulder when arresting him for debt.

Ducat. Duke’s money, anciently struck in the Duchy of Apulia, Sicily.

Duchess Street. After Lady Cavendish, who became the wife of the second Duke of Portland.

Ducking Stool. An instrument for the punishment of scolding wives. This public ducking in a pond effectually served to cool their temper for the time being.

Duck’s Foot Lane. Properly “Duke’s Foot Lane,” the footway leading from the town house of the Earls of Suffolk down to the Thames.

Dude. An American name for a fop, derived from a very old English word, “dudes,” whence we have the slang term “Duds,” for clothes.

Dudley. From the castle built by Dodo, a Saxon prince, and ley, “meadow.”

Duds. See “Dude.”

Dug-out. A Far West Americanism for a boat or canoe hewn out of a large tree log.

Dukeries. That portion of Nottinghamshire distinguished for the number of ducal residences, of which Welbeck Abbey is perhaps the most admired.

Duke Street. In Aldgate, after the Dukes of Norfolk. Near Smithfield, the ancient property of the Dukes of Brittany. In Grosvenor Square, after the Duke of Cumberland. Off Langham Place, after the Duke of Portland. Near Manchester Square, after the Duke of Manchester. In the Strand, after George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.

Dulwich. The corruption of Dalewich, the village in the dale.

Duma. Russian for Parliament or popular representation.

Dumb Ox. One of the sobriquets of St Thomas Aquinas, from the silence with which he pursued his studies. His master, Albertus Magnus, however, predicted that “this dumb ox will one day fill the world with his bellowing.”

Dumping. A word which has come into prominence relative to Mr Chamberlain’s Fiscal Policy. In various forms the verb dump may be met with in Teutonic and Scandinavian tongues, meaning to “pitch down,” “throw down in a lump,” etc. etc. A “Dump Cart” in America is one that tilts up in front, and so “dumps” its load behind.

Dun. A persistent creditor. After Joe Dun, a noted bailiff, who never failed to bring a debtor to book. People used to say: “Why don’t you Dun him for the debt?” meaning they would send Joe Dun to make him pay or arrest him.

Dunce. From John Duns Scotus, who, it is said, gave no proof of his remarkable attainments in his early scholastic days.

Dundee. A corruption of Duntay, the hill fort on the Tay.

Dunedin. See “Edinburgh.”

Dungeness. A corruption of Danger Ness, the Headland of Danger.

Dunkirk. Expresses the “Church in the Dunes,” or sand-hills, built by St Eloi in the seventh century.

Durham. A corruption of Dunholm, from its situation on a hill surrounded by the river.

Dusseldorf. The village on the Dussel.

Dutchman. A contemptuous epithet applied to our phlegmatic enemies during the wars with Holland.

Dyers’ Buildings. The site of an ancient almshouse of the Dyers’ Company.