Chapter Nation of Gentlemen to Nebo of N by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Near meaning mean, is rather a curious play on the word close (close-fisted). What is “close by” is near

Near Side and Off Side. Left side and right side. “Near wheel” means that to the coachman's left hand; and “near horse” (in a pair) means that to the left hand of the driver. In a four-in-hand the two horses on the left side of the coachman are the near wheeler and the near leader. Those on the right hand side of the coachman are “off horses.” This, which seems an anomaly, arose when the driver walked beside his team. The teamster always walks with his right arm nearest the horse, and therefore, in a pair of horses, the horse on the left side is nearer than the one on his right.

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1 ¦ 3
2 ¦ 4
Coachman

   Thus, 2 is the near wheeler and 1 the near leader, 4 is the off wheeler and 3 the off leader.

Neat as a Bandbox A band-box is a slight box for caps, hats, and other similar articles.

Neat as a Pin or Neat as a New Pin. Very prim and tidy.

Neat as Wax Certainly the waxen cells of bees are the perfection of neatness and good order.

Nebo, the god of science and literature, is said to have invented cuneiform writing. His temple was at Borsippa, but his worship was carried wherever Babylonian letters penetrated. Thus we had Mount Nebo in Moab, and the city of Nebo in Judea.