n the "School-boy Magazine" has gathered together the
following dictionary words as defined by certain small people:
Bed-time--Shut eye time.
Dust--Mud with the juice squeezed out.
Fan--A thing to brush warm off with.
Fins--A fish's wings.
Ice--Water that staid out in the cold and went to sleep.
Monkey--A very small boy with a tail.
Nest-Egg--The egg that the old hen measures by, to make new ones.
Pig--A hog's little boy.
Salt--What makes your potato taste bad when you don't put any on.
Snoring--Letting off sleep.
Stars--The moon's eggs.
Wakefulness--Eyes all the time coming unbuttoned.
The following specimens from scholars' examinations in making sentences
to illustrate the definitions of words, found in their small
dictionaries, will have a familiar sound to some of our readers:
Frantic = Wild: I picked a bouquet of frantic flowers.
Retorted = Returned: We retorted home at six o'clock.
Summoned = Called: I summoned to see Mary last week.
Athletic = Strong: The vinegar was too athletic to be used.
Poignant = Sharp: My knife is very poignant.
Ordinances = Rules: We learned the ordinances for finding the greatest
common divisor.
Turbid = Muddy: The road was so turbid that we stuck fast in the mud.
Tandem = One behind another: The scholars sit tandem in school.
Akimbo = With a crook: I saw a dog with an akimbo in his tail.
Atonement = Satisfaction: There is no atonement in boat-riding in a cold
day.
Composure = Calmness: The composure of the day was remarkable.
We have the authority of the late Dr. Hart as to the genuineness of the
following extracts, taken from the papers of a class seeking admission
into a high-school, to which had been given a list of words for their
meanings and applications:
Fabulous--Full of threads: Silk is fabulous.
Accession--The act of eating a great deal: John got very sick after
dinner by accession.
Atonement--A small insect: Queen Mab was pulled by atonements.
Develop--To swallow up: God sent a whale to develop Jonah.
Circumference--Distance through the middle: Distance around the middle
of the outside.
Mobility--Belonging to the people: The mobility of St. Louis has greatly
increased.
Adequate--A land animal: An elephant is an adequate.
Gregarious--Pertaining to idols: The Sandwich-Islanders are gregarious.
Fluctuation--Coming in great numbers: There was a great fluctuation of
immigrants.
Alternate--Not ternate.
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