“While fathers hard, slaves false, and bawds be whorish.”
Act. iv. sc. 3—
“Crisp. O—oblatrant—furibund—fatuate—strenuous.
O—conscious.”
It would form an interesting essay, or rather series of essays, in a periodical work, were all the attempts to ridicule new phrases brought together, the proportion observed of words ridiculed which have been adopted, and are now common, such as [pg 267] strenuous, conscious, &c., and a trial made how far any grounds can be detected, so that one might determine beforehand whether a word was invented under the conditions of assimilability to our language or not. Thus much is certain, that the ridiculers were as often wrong as right; and Shakespeare himself could not prevent the naturalisation of accommodation, remuneration, &c.; or Swift the gross abuse even of the word idea.
“Fall Of Sejanus.”
Act i.—
“Arruntius. The name Tiberius,
I hope, will keep, howe'er he hath foregone