June 1, 1887.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



185 



Fhesh. Overbold. I have heard the word " fresh " 

 used in this sense oftener in the South than in other parts 

 of America. 



Freshet. Bartlett is careful to explain that this word, 

 whicli he describes as now only in use in America, Ls really 

 old English. I imagine that our English dictionary which 

 did not give this word would be thought a poor one. 



Frisco. San Francisco is thus familiarly called in the 

 States. 



Frolic, used for a " part}' on a frolic," seems to be a true 

 Americanism. 



Front. In England the I)ack of a book is the part where 

 the leaves are held together; and if we spoke of the "front" 

 at all we should mean the part opposite the back. But in 

 America the " front " of a book is the beginning, and the 

 back of the book is the end. Thus Mark Twain, in his 

 " Interview," speaks of looking up the word in the back 

 part of Webster's Dictionary among the pictures, where we 

 should say near the end of the book. So an American might 

 speak of the words beginning with A and B as occupying 

 the front of the dictionary. The usage is a trifle absurd. 



Front Najie. The Christian name. 



Froughy. Spongy, brittle, hence inferior in quality, as 

 " froughy butter " for rancid butter. Commonly heard in 

 the North of England. 



Frump, To. To insult. This good old word, freely used by 

 the Elizabethan dramatists, is still heard in New England. 



Full Chisel. Full speed. Like our English slang 

 " full split," " full swing." 



Funeral. The most characteristic Americanism in con- 

 nection with this word is its use in such expressions as 

 " This is mi/ funeral," meaning my special business, or, still 

 more cliaracteiistically, " It ain't none of my funeral," 

 meaning " It's no business of mine." There are parts of the 

 States where " funerals " are the principal entertainments 

 known to the public ; hence they receive much attention 

 from manager and the performers (other than the player of 

 the principal part), and excite great interest among all classes 

 of the community. This has led to the separation of the 

 funeral from the burial. "Hamlet" is played without the 

 presence of the gloomy prince ; and by interposing a suffi- 

 cient interval the occasion becomes one of something like 

 merrymaking. 



DON'T! "* 



LITTLE manual of social proprieties, pub- 

 lished under the name of " Don't I " has 

 obtained a wide circulation ; and, as its 

 negative precepts are inspired by much 

 good sense and good taste, we liave no 

 doubt the tiny book will prove of real 

 value. But, while good social habits are 

 well worth forming, good intellectual ones 

 are at least of equal importance ; and it occurs to us that 

 there is ample room for a manual that, in a series of brief 

 and pithy sentences, would place people on their gu.ird 

 against the most obvious intellectual eriors and vices. 

 Possibly the objection might be raised that, while everybody 

 wants to be cured of his or her social solecisms (if the ex- 

 pression may be permitted), none so little desire to be cured 

 of intellectual faults as those who are most subject to them. 

 Who, it might be asked, applie-; the moral denunciations 

 of the pulpit to himself? Who would apply to himself the 

 cautions of your proposed manual ? Granted, we reply, that 



* From the Popular Sciciicr Montldii. A charming little article 

 by the Editor. Some o£ these " Don'ts " should be printed in gold 

 letters in our studies ; for we students of science don't always 

 remember these e.xcellent rules. 



it is easier to bring home to the individual conscience the 

 sin of eating with a knife than the sin of reasoning falsely 

 or acting unjustly, we should still be glad to see a telling 

 compilation of the most needed " Don'ts " for the use of all 

 and singular who make any profession of an independent 

 use of their intellects. Some of the maxims would be 

 commonplace ; but then the object would not be to lay down 

 novel truths so much as to enforce old ones. Let us throw 

 out a few at random, by way of a start : — 



Don't think that what you don't know is not worth 

 knowing. 



Don't conclude that, because you can't understand a thing, 

 nobody can understand it. 



Don't despise systems of thought that other men have 

 elaborated because you cannot place yourself at once at 

 their point of view. 



Don't interpret things too much according to your own 

 likes and dislikes. The world was not made to please any- 

 body in particular, or to confirm anybody's theories. 



Don't imagine that, because a thing is plain to you, it 

 ought to be equally so to everybody else. 



Don't insist on making things out simpler than they 

 really are ; on the other hand - 



Don't affect far-fetched and over-elaborate ex))lanations. 

 Don't be overwise. Why should you make a fool of 

 yourself? 



Don't imagine that anything is gained by juggling with 

 words or by evading difficulties. 



Don't refuse to change the point of view of a question, if 

 requested by an opponent to do so. A true conclusion can- 

 not be invalidated by any legitimate process of argument. 



Don't be inordinately surprised when a man who knows 

 (juite as much as you do on a given subject, and perhaps a 

 little more, does not agree with you in your conclusions 

 thereon. Try the effect of being surprised that you don't 

 agree with him. 



Don't keep on hand too many cut-and-dried theories. A 

 foot-rule is a convenient thing for a carpenter to cany about 

 with him ; but a man who is always " sizing up " other 

 people's opinions by a private rule of his own is apt to be a 

 bore. 



Don't bo in a hurry to attribute bad motives or dishonest 

 tactics to an opponent. Try to get an outside view of your 

 own motives and tactics. 



Don't refuse to hold your judgment in suspense when the 

 evidence is not sufficient to warrant a conclusion. 



Don't imagine that, because you have got a few new 

 phrases at your tongue's end, you have all the stock-in-trade 

 of a philosopher, still less that you are a philosopher. 



Don't try to express your meaning till you have made it 

 clear to yoiu'self. 



Don't argue for the sake of arguing; always have some 

 practical and useful object in view, or else hold your peace. 



Don't grudge imparting what you know, and do it with 

 simplicity. 



Don't prosecute any study out of idle curiosity or vanity. 

 If you have time for intellectual work, be a serious and 

 honest worker. 



Don't be too eager to "get credit" for what you do. 

 Don't undervalue the work of others. 

 Here we have a score or so of maxims of the prohibitive 

 kind, and the number might be indefinitely increased. There 

 is no doubt the intellectual progress of the world might be 

 hastened, and the good order and harmony of society greatly 

 imjjroved, if these precepts and others like unto them were 

 more carefully observed. Whether we get another '' Don't " 

 manual or not, sensible people should think of these things, 

 and try to bring their intellectual habits at least up to a 

 level with their social ones. 



