Chapter Store to Straw of S by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Store to Straw

Store (1 syl.). Store is no sore. Things stored up for future use are no evil. Sore means grief as well as wound, our sorrow.

Stork, a sacred bird, according to the Swedish legend received its name from flying round the cross of the crucified Redeemer, crying Styrka! styrka! (Strengthen! strengthen!). (See Christ, in Christian Traditions .)
   Storks are the sworn foes of snakes. Hence the veneration in which they are held. They are also excellent scavengers. (Stork, Anglo-Saxon, store.)

“Twill profit when the stork, sworn foe of snakes,
Returns, to show compassion to thy plants.”
Philips: Cyder, bk. i.

Storks' Law or Lex Ciconaria. A Roman law which obliged children to maintain their necessitous parents in old age, “in imitation of the stork.” Also called “Antipelargia.”

Storm in a Teapot A mighty to-do about a trifle. “A storm in a puddle.”

Storms The inhabitants of Comacchio, a town in Central Italy, between the two branches of the Po, rejoice in storms because then the fish are driven into their marshes.

“Whose townsmen loathe the lazy calm's repose,
And pray that stormy waves may lash the beach.”
Rose's Orlando Furioso, ii. 41.

   Cape of Storms. So Bartholomew Diaz named the south cape of Africa in 1486, but King John II. changed it into the Cape of Good Hope.

Stormy Petrel (A). An ill omen; a bad augury.

“Dr. von Esmarch is regarded at court as a stormy petrel, and every effort was made to conceal his visit to the German emperor.”- The World, 6th April, 1892, p. 15.

Stornello Verses are those in which certain words are harped on and turned about and about. They are common among the Tuscan peasants. The word is from tornare (to return).

“Ill tell him the white, and the green, and the red,
Mean our country has flung the vile yoke from her head;
I'll tell him the green, and the red, and the white
Would look well by his side as a sword-knot so bright;
I'll tell him the red, and the white, and the green
Is the prize that we play for, a prize we will win.”
Notes and Queries.

Storthing (pron. stor-ting). The Norwegian Parliament, elected every three years (Norse, stor, great; thing, court.)

Stovepipe Hat (A). A chimney-pot hat (q.v.).

“High collars, tight coats, and tight sleeves were worn at home and abroad, and, as though that were not enough, a stovepipe hat was worn.”- Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, September, 1891.

Stowe (1 syl.). The fair majestic paradise of Stowe (Thomson: Autumn). The principal seat of the Duke of Buckingham.

Stowe Nine Churches A hamlet of Stowe, Northamptonshire. The tradition is that the people of this hamlet wished to build a church, and made nine ineffectual efforts to do so, for every time the church was finished the devil came by night and knocked it down again.

Strabo (Walafridus). A German monk. (807-849.)

Stradivarius (Antonio). A famous violin-maker, born at Cremona. Some of his instruments have fetched £400. (1670-1728.) (See Cremonas .)

Straight as an Arrow (See Similes .)

Strain (1 syl.). To strain courtesy. To stand upon ceremony. Here, strain is to stretch, as parchment is strained on a drum-head. When strain means to filter, the idea is pressing or squeezing through a canvas or woollen bag.
   Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. To make much fuss about little peccadillos, but commit offences of real magnitude. “Strain at” is strain out or off (Greek, di-ulizo). The allusion is