The
picktooth
in
the mouth, the flower in the eare, the brush upon the beard; .
the mouth, the flower in the eare, the brush upon the beard; .
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
' It is referred to as the mark of a traveller by
Shakespeare, _King John_, 1. 1 (cited by Gifford):
--Now your traveller,
He, and his tooth-pick, at my worship's mess.
Overbury (_Character_ of _An Affected Traveller_, ed. Morley, p. 35)
speaks of the _pick-tooth_ as 'a main part of his behavior. '
It was also a sign of foppery. Overbury (p. 31) describes the
courtier as wearing 'a pick-tooth in his hat,' and Massinger, _Grand
Duke of Florence_, Act 3 (quoted by Nares), mentions 'my case of
tooth-picks, and my silver fork' among the articles 'requisite to the
making up of a signior. ' John Earle makes a similar reference in his
_Character_ of _An Idle Gallant_ (ed. Morley, p. 179), and Furnivall
(Stubbes' _Anatomy_, p. 77) quotes from _Laugh and lie downe_: or
_The worldes Folly_, London, 1605, 4to: 'The next was a nimble-witted
and glib-tongu'd fellow, who, having in his youth spent his wits in
the Arte of love, was now become the jest of wit. . . .
The picktooth in
the mouth, the flower in the eare, the brush upon the beard; . . . and
what not that was unneedefull,' etc.
It is a frequent subject of satire in Jonson. Cf. _Ev. Man out_, _Wks. _
2. 124; _Cyn. Rev. _, _Wks. _ 2. 218, 248; _Fox_, _Wks. _ 3. 266.
Shakespeare, _King John_, 1. 1 (cited by Gifford):
--Now your traveller,
He, and his tooth-pick, at my worship's mess.
Overbury (_Character_ of _An Affected Traveller_, ed. Morley, p. 35)
speaks of the _pick-tooth_ as 'a main part of his behavior. '
It was also a sign of foppery. Overbury (p. 31) describes the
courtier as wearing 'a pick-tooth in his hat,' and Massinger, _Grand
Duke of Florence_, Act 3 (quoted by Nares), mentions 'my case of
tooth-picks, and my silver fork' among the articles 'requisite to the
making up of a signior. ' John Earle makes a similar reference in his
_Character_ of _An Idle Gallant_ (ed. Morley, p. 179), and Furnivall
(Stubbes' _Anatomy_, p. 77) quotes from _Laugh and lie downe_: or
_The worldes Folly_, London, 1605, 4to: 'The next was a nimble-witted
and glib-tongu'd fellow, who, having in his youth spent his wits in
the Arte of love, was now become the jest of wit. . . .
The picktooth in
the mouth, the flower in the eare, the brush upon the beard; . . . and
what not that was unneedefull,' etc.
It is a frequent subject of satire in Jonson. Cf. _Ev. Man out_, _Wks. _
2. 124; _Cyn. Rev. _, _Wks. _ 2. 218, 248; _Fox_, _Wks. _ 3. 266.
