288. Who is “Johnny Crapaud”?
“This is a sportive designation of a Frenchman, or of the French nation collectively considered. The following account has been given of the origin of this name: ‘When the French took the city of Aras from the Spaniards, under Louis XIV., after a long and most desperate siege, it was remembered that Nostradamus had said,—
‘Les anciens crapauds prendront Sara.’
(The ancient toads shall Sara take.)
This line was then applied to this event in a very roundabout manner. Sara is Aras backward. By the ancient toads were meant the French; as that nation formerly had for its armorial bearings three of those odious reptiles, instead of the three flowers-de-luce which it now bears.”
289. Who is “Cousin Michael”?
This is a sportive and disparaging designation of the German people, intended to indicate the weaknesses and follies of the national character, and especially the proverbial national slowness, heaviness, and credulity. The name Michel is often used as a contemptuous designation of any simple, coarse rustic, and has probably acquired this signification through a mingling of the Hebrew with the old German michel, gross.
290. Who is “Taffy”?
This is a sobriquet for a Welshman, or for the Welsh collectively. The word is a corruption of David, one of the most common of Welsh names.
291. Who is “Ivan Ivanovitch”?