References
to the
chopine are common in the literature of the period (see Nares
and _NED.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
_, referring to Skeat,
_Trans. Phil. Soc._, 1885-7, p. 79, derives it from Sp. _chapa_,
a plate of metal, etc. 'The Eng. writers c 1600 persistently
treated the word as Italian, even spelling it _cioppino_, pl.
_cioppini_, and expressly associated it with Venice, so that,
although not recorded in Italian Dicts. it was app. temporarily
fashionable there.' The statement of the _NED._ that 'there is
little or no evidence of their use in England (except on the
stage)' seems to be contradicted by the quotation from Stephen
Gosson's _Pleasant Quippes_ (note 1. 1. 128). References
to the
chopine are common in the literature of the period (see Nares
and _NED.
_). I have found no instances of the Italianated form
earlier than Jonson, and it may be original with him. He uses
the plural _cioppini_ in _Cynthia's Revels_, _Wks._ 2. 241.
See note 4. 4. 69.
