Chapter Fairy Sparks to False of F by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Fall of the Drop (The), in theatrical parlance, means the fall of the drop-curtain at the end of the act or play.

Fall Out of (To). To tumble or slip from, as, "The weapons fell out of my hands." This is a Latin phrase, "De manibus meis arma ceciderunt. "

Fall Short of (To). To be deficient of a supply. This is the Latin excido, to fail. To fall short of the mark is a figure taken from archery, quoits, etc., where the missile falls to the ground before reaching the mark.

Fall Together by the Ears (To). To fight and scratch each other; to contend in strife. "To fall together by the ears" is "inter se certare; " but "to set together by the ears" is "discordium concitare. "

Fall Upon One's Feet (To). To escape a threatened injury; to light upon one's feet.

Falling Bands Neck-bands which fall on the chest, common in the seventeenth century.

Falling Sickness Epilepsy, in which the patient falls suddenly to the ground.

"Brutus. - He[i.e. Cæsar] hath the falling-sickness.
Cassius. - No, Cæsar hath it not: but you, and I,
And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness."
Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar, i. 2.

Falling Stars are said by Mahometans to be firebrands flung by good angels against evil spirits when they approach too near the gates of heaven.

Fallow Land Land ploughed, but not sown; so called from its brown or tawny colour. (German, fahl, tawny; Anglo-Saxon, falu or fealo, pale-red; hence, fallow deer, red deer.)

"Break up the fallow land." - Jer. iv. 3.

False (The Rule of). A method of solving certain mathematical questions generally done by equations. Suppose the question is this: "What number is that whose half exceeds its third by 12?" Assume any number you like as the supposed answer - say 96. Then, by the question, 96 ÷ 2 = 96 i.e. 54, but 48 does not equal 54, the latter is 16 too much.
   Well, now state by rule of proportion thus, 16: 12:: 96 to the answer, which is 72, the number required.