Phrases and Names, Their Origins and Meanings

by Trench H. Johnson

Corncrackers. The Kentuckians, from a native bird of the crane species called the Corncracker.

Corner. The creation of a monopoly of prices in respect of natural produce or manufactured goods. The allusion here is to speculators who agreed in a quiet corner, at or near the Exchange, to buy up the whole market.

Cornhill. The ancient city corn market.

Cornwall. Pursuant to the Saxon Wahl, the horn of land peopled by foreigners.

Corpus Christi College. At Cambridge, founded by the united guilds or fraternities of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin.

Corsica. A Phœnician term for “wooded isle.”

Cossack. The Russian form of the Tartar term kasake, a horseman.

Costa Rica. Spanish for “rich coast.”

Costermonger. In Shakespeare’s time a Costardmonger, or trader in a famous species of apple so called.

Cottonopolis. Manchester, the city identified with English cotton manufacture.