Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/58

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. VIL JAN. is,

taking Fisher with him. The latter eventu- ally became partner in the firm of Nuttall, Fisher & Dixon, who carried on a very large business in Liverpool till 1818, when Mr. Nuttall and Mr. Dixon retired. Mr. Fisher carried on the business as Fisher, Son & Co. till 1821, when his extensive works (the "Caxton") were entirely de- stroyed by fire. The firm then removed to London. Mr. Henry Fisher died at his residence Highbury Park in 1837, leaving two sons and one daughter ; the latter married Capt. Buttanshaw, R.N.

For most of this information I am in- debted to Timperley's ' History of Printers and Printing.' A. H. ARKLE.

[MR. W. H. PEET also thanked for reply.]

" DANDER" (11 S. vi. 468; vii. 15). It seems probable that your correspondents who connect this word with " tand " are on the right track. May I point out the transition of term from " dandy " to " spark," and from " spark " to " shiner " ; and also mention the expression " a leading light " ? "To raise a man's dander " is certainly to " knock sparks " out of him. I do not know if it is necessary to explain that " Shiney Bill," or " Bob," was a common nickname for A dandy of the lower class in a former generation. I understand that the expression " knocking sparks," &c., has now changed to " knocking spots."

From the way in which the word " dunder " is used in " dunderhead," meaning " a confused person," " one whose judgment is disorganized," it looks as if " dunder " were not connected with " tand " at all.

FRANK PENNY.

TO BE " OUT " FOR A THING (US. vi. 409,

494; vii. 35). The phrase certainly does not mean "to do a thing," but, as MR. STRACHAN rightly observes at the second reference, to be intent on obtaining a thing. The = in the heading of my query was to stand for " out," and should be replaced by a comma ; I wanted to hint that the phrase allows of two constructions. My putting it on a par with the German " auf etwas aus sein " shows that I regarded the intention as essential. All the sentences given at 11 S. vi. 494 can be rendered with our locution.

Whether the present use of the English equivalent is a continuation of the one treated in the ' N.E.D.' under ' Out,' for which reference I express my thanks to MR. STRACHAN, I have my doubts. Further, it seems to me that in the passage various

things which ought to have been kept asunder have been unduly thrown together. " The Jacobites were out " means they were in the field, and even if " for Prince Charlie " is added, this is syntactically greatly dif- ferent ; " for " is here equal to " for the sake of him," not in order to obtain him. And is not " The miners are out " simply equal to " out of work " or " out on strike " ?

In the examples which are to illustrate the use to which I wanted to direct attention the mentioning of the aim cannot be omitted.

The two phrases adduced by DRYASDUST at the second reference are new to me ; what do they signify ? Is "It stands to you. ..." equal to our " Es steht (kommt) Ihnen zu, das und das zu tun " ?

G. KRUEGER.

Berlin.

Does not this expression originate in sportsman's slang to be " out for snipe," or what not ? The phrase " out to win," quoted by DRYASDUST, is not, strictly speaking, to the point, though " out for a win " would be. Compare the expression " gunning for " a thing or a person. My impression is, however, that the origin of this latter is to be sought rather in the lawless habits of the Wild West. B.

"NOTCH" (11 S. vi. 366, 427, 470). At the last reference COL. NICHOLSON gives a derivation for Pil. Cochice which is new to me, and not supported by anything I know of the term or the preparation it refers to. I have never seen or heard of Pil. Cochice in notched rolls such as COL. NICHOLSON describes ; it is always, so far as I know, kept in mass, like any other pill- mass, or in pills of the ordinary kind. The reference to the ' N.E.D.' proves nothing except that pilules cochees is an old French name for pills of this sort ; it throws no light on the origin of the term. Littre, undsr ' Cochee,' has : " Terme de pharmacie. Pilules cochees, certaines pilules omcinales qui purgent fortement," with a quotation from Pare, and this etymology, " II parait tenir a es-cocher, battre la pate du biscuit avec la paume de la main." This gives no colour to COL. NICHOLSON'S derivation. Wootton (' Chronicles of Pharmacy,' ii. 152} derives it from coccus, or rather from the diminutive coccion. Katapotia (he says), the old pills, were too large to be conveniently swallowed, and a smaller kind was therefore introduced, to which the name of the lentil berry was given. He says the term did not come into use before the seventh century, but Liddell and Scott refer to Alexander of