bay," by which we mean that there is no
chance of escape, but that the person in such a situation must either
give in or fight, comes from hunting. The hare or the fox is said to
be "at bay" when it comes to a wall or other object which prevents its
running farther, and so turns and faces its pursuers. _Bay_ is the
deep barking of the hounds.

The word _crestfallen_, by which we mean looking ashamed and
depressed, comes from the old sport of cock-fighting. The bird whose
crest (or tuft of hair on the head) drooped after the fight was
naturally the one which had been beaten. The word _pounce_ comes from
hawking, _pounces_ being the old word for a hawk's claws. The word
_haggard_, which now generally means worn and sometimes a little
wild-looking through grief or anxiety, was originally the name given
to a hawk caught, not, like most hawks used for hawking, when it was
quite young, but when it was already grown up. Such a hawk would
naturally have a wild look, and would never become so tame as the
birds caught young.

Several words meaning to entice a person come from fowling. We speak
of persons being "decoyed" when we mean that they are deceived into
going to some dangerous place. The person who entices them away is
called a "decoy;" but the first use of the word was to describe a duck
trained to induce other ducks to fly or walk into nets laid over ponds
by trappers. Another word of this kind is _allure_, which means to
persuade a person to do something by making it seem very attractive.
This word really means to bring a person (originally an animal) to
the "lure" or "bait" prepared to catch him.

The word _trap_, which may now mean to show a person to be guilty by a
trick, or to put him in the wrong in some way, is a metaphorical use.
The word literally means to catch an animal in a trap.

Many words contain metaphors drawn from the older and simpler trades.
We speak of a thing being "brand-new"--that is, as new as though just
stamped with a "brand" or iron stamp. Another expression which has
changed its meaning a little with time used to have exactly the same
meaning. We now say a person looks "spick and span" when he or she is
very neatly dressed. Formerly the expression was "spick and span
new"--that is, as new as a spike (or spoon) just made or a chip newly
cut. We may safely say that very few people who now use the expression
"spick and span" have any idea of what it means literally. The
metaphor is well hid