= The
dramatists
were fond of
punning on _foul_ and _fair_.
punning on _foul_ and _fair_.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
, 12.
41):
_E. _ Our Dotterel then is caught?
_B. _ He is and just
As Dotterels use to be: the lady first
Advanc'd toward him, stretch'd forth her wing, and he
Met her with all expressions.
It is uncertain whether the sense of 'bird' or 'simpleton' is
the original. _Dottrel_ seems to be connected with _dote_ and
_dotard_. The bird is a species of plover, and Cunningham says
that 'Selby ridicules the notion of its being more stupid than
other birds. ' In _Bart. Fair_ (_Wks. _ 4. 445) we hear of the
'sport call'd Dorring the Dotterel. '
=2. 2. 51 Nor faire one.
= The dramatists were fond of
punning on _foul_ and _fair_. Cf. _Bart. Fair_ passim.
=2. 2. 77 a Nupson. = Jonson uses the word again in _Every
Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 111: 'O that I were so happy as to light on
a nupson now. ' In _Lingua_, 1607, (_O. Pl. _, 4th ed. , 9. 367,
458) both the forms _nup_ and _nupson_ are used. The etymology
is uncertain.
_E. _ Our Dotterel then is caught?
_B. _ He is and just
As Dotterels use to be: the lady first
Advanc'd toward him, stretch'd forth her wing, and he
Met her with all expressions.
It is uncertain whether the sense of 'bird' or 'simpleton' is
the original. _Dottrel_ seems to be connected with _dote_ and
_dotard_. The bird is a species of plover, and Cunningham says
that 'Selby ridicules the notion of its being more stupid than
other birds. ' In _Bart. Fair_ (_Wks. _ 4. 445) we hear of the
'sport call'd Dorring the Dotterel. '
=2. 2. 51 Nor faire one.
= The dramatists were fond of
punning on _foul_ and _fair_. Cf. _Bart. Fair_ passim.
=2. 2. 77 a Nupson. = Jonson uses the word again in _Every
Man in_, _Wks. _ 1. 111: 'O that I were so happy as to light on
a nupson now. ' In _Lingua_, 1607, (_O. Pl. _, 4th ed. , 9. 367,
458) both the forms _nup_ and _nupson_ are used. The etymology
is uncertain.
