Crisscross is
Christ's cross, attention is stretching toward, expression is pressed out,
dexterity is right-handedness, circumstances are things standing around,
an innuendo is nodding, a parlor is a room to talk in, a nostril is that
which pierces the nose (thrill means pierce), vinegar is sharp wine, a
stirrup is a rope to mount by, a pastor is a shepherd, a marshal is a
caretaker of horses, a constable is a stable attendant, a companion is a
sharer of one's bread.
On the other hand, you will find that many words were once more general in
import than they have since become. _Fond_ originally meant foolish,
then foolishly devoted, then (becoming more general again) devoted.
_Nostrum_ meant our own, then a medicine not known by other
physicians, then a quack remedy. _Shamefast_ meant confirmed in
modesty (shame); then through a confusion of _fast_ with
_faced_, a betrayal through the countenance of self-consciousness or
guilt. _Counterfeit_ meant a copy or a picture, then an unlawful
duplication, especially of a coin. _Lust_ meant pleasure of any sort,
then inordinate sexual pleasure or desire. _Virtue_ (to trace only a
few of its varied activities) meant manliness, then the quality or
attribute peculiar to true manhood (with the Romans this was valor), then
any admirable quality, then female chastity.
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