pronoun you is in the Objective case governed by the preposition to understood. Betide is the Imperative mood, 3rd pers. singr., having woe for its Nominative case or Subject [see § 172]. 398. WOE WORTH THE DAY.-In this expression, which is borrowed from the old writers, the word worth is not a noun. It is the Imperative mood of the Anglo-Saxon verb weorthan, "to betide," "to become," "to happen." Sir Walter Scott writes: : Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That is, "Woe betide the chase," or 66 Woe be to the chase." 399. WHICH IS WHICH? This is a colloquial form of question, the object of which is, to obtain precise information regarding each of two or more objects presented to the view. The expression is elliptical, and it depends upon the nature of the question what words must be supplied in order to complete the expression. For instance, a housekeeper places three pots of jam on a table, and says: "Here are samples of my damson jam, my plum jam, and my raspberry jam." The person addressed may say :- "Which is which"? that is, WHICH IS the pot WHICH contains damson jam, which is the pot which contains plum jam, and which is the pot which contains raspberry jam? Now, all this long and formal question is reduced. by ellipsis into the very brief colloquial expression, Which is which? The similar colloquial interrogation, Who's who? may be explained in somewhat the same way. LESSON XLII. Idioms. (Second Class.) 400. The following are some of the Idioms of the second class, that is, of those in which some word or phrase is used in a meaning which does not properly belong to it. 401. WHAT (Interrogative pronoun.)—The Interrogative pronoun What is often used as an exclamation, or to express admiration, or surprise; as, What folly! What courage! What a useful thing is money! The Interrogative adverb how is also frequently employed in the same sense; as, How glorious! How absurd! BY 402. WHAT WITH WHAT BY. WHAT WITH.-WHAT This is an idiomatic use of the Interrogative what as an ADVERB, in the sense of partly; as, "WHAT WITH the roquelaure, and WHAT WITH the weather, it will be the death of your honour." "The year before he had so used the matter, that, WHAT BY force, WHAT BY policy, he had taken from the Christians above thirty small castles." 403. WHAT NOT.-This expression is used as a noun having an indefinite meaning, the same as anything you please;" as, "Battles, tournaments, hunts, and WHAT NOT." 66 66 to 404. IF YOU PLEASE. This is a curious example of idiomatic change of meaning. The verb " please" properly means "to give pleasure to," to satisfy," &c., and it was in this sense the above expression was formerly used: "if you it please, i.e., "if it please you," or "if it be pleasing to you." But after the impersonal pronoun "it" was omitted, the OBJECTIVE you came in the course of time to be regarded as the NOMINATIVE to please," and then please came to mean to like, to approve, to FEEL pleasure, &c., instead of "to GIVE pleasure." That "you" is now really to be regarded as the nominative to "please" is evident from the similar idiomatic expressions, If HE please; As HE pleases; Wherever we please, &c. 405. I AM MISTAKEN. This is another curious instance of idiomatic change of meaning, for which it is hard to account. In strictness the expression "I am mistaken," ought to mean "I am misunderstood;" but in the idiom it means precisely the opposite, that is, "I am misunderstanding," "I am in error," &c. In fact the PAST participle "mistaken appears to be used in the sense of the PRESENT participle "mistak ing," and it is perhaps the only instance of the kind now in use in the language, although the idiomatic use of the Present participle for the Past is common enough, as in the phrases, "Nothing is wanting" (i.e. nothing is WANTED), The dinner is cooking (i.e. the dinner is BEING COOKED), &c. 406. The idiomatic expressions, I am mistaken, you are mistaken, he is mistaken, &c., may also, perhaps, be accounted for as instances of the use of the auxilliary verb to be instead of the auxiliary verb to have, that is, that I AM mistaken is used in the sense of I HAVE mistaken, just as we say You ARE come at last, instead of You HAVE come at last; The mail Is arrived, instead of The mail HAS arrived. LESSON XLIII. Vulgarisms. 407. A very common vulgarism consists in using the Past participle of an irregular verb instead of the Past tense, or the Past tense instead of the Past participle. As, I done it, instead of I did it; I seen him do it; instead of I saw him do it; The bottle has been broke, instead of The bottle has been broken, &c. 408. Another very common vulgarism consists in using the Objectives me, him, her, us, and them after the verb to be when a Nominative precedes it. As, It is me; it was him, 'twas us, &c., instead of, It is I; It was he; 'twas we, &c. In England such expressions are regarded as idioms sanctioned by general usage; but in Ireland they have always been looked upon as mere vulgarisms, 409. An odious vulgarism, very prevalent in Ireland, consists in using the verb do as an auxiliary to the verb to be. Thus if you ask an illiterate man how he is generally employed, he will probably give an answer somewhat like the following:-Well, sometimes I DO BE working, and sometimes I DO BE fishing, and moretimes indeed I DO BE doing nothing at all, instead of saying simply, sometimes I work, sometimes I fish, and at other times I have nothing to do, 410. The word "moretimes" (instead of "at other times" or 66 on other occasions") is very common in Ireland; and the adverbial expression "at all" is a particular favourite, and is frequently doubled by way of rendering it more emphatic, as "Nothing at all at all." But 66 moretimes" should never be used, and “at all” only very sparingly, and NEVER DOUBLED. 411. The following still more odious vulgarisms are also very prevalent in Ireland :—— I believe it is laughing at me you are, instead of "I believe you are laughing at me"; May be it's only joking he is, instead of "Perhaps he is only |