Chapter Houqua to Howard of H by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Houqua to Howard

Houqua A superior quality of tea, so called from Hoque, the celebrated Hong-Kong tea merchant; died 1846.

Hour (Greek and Latin, hora.)
   At the eleventh hour. Just in time not to be too late; only just in time to obtain some benefit. The allusion is to the parable of labourers hired for the vineyard (Matt. xx.).
   My hour is not yet come. The time of my death is not yet fully come. The allusion is to the belief that the hour of our birth and death is appointed and fixed.

"When Jesus knew that His hour was come." -
John xiii. 1.

   In an evil hour. Acting under an unfortunate impulse. In astrology we have our lucky and unlucky hours.
   In the small hours of the morning. One, two, and three, after midnight.
   To keep good hours. To return home early every night; to go to bed bedtimes. "Se retirer la nuit de bonne heure." In Latin, "Tempestive se domum recipere."

Houri (pl. Houris). The large blackeyed damsels of Paradise, possessed of perpetual youth and beauty, whose virginity is renewable at pleasure. Every believer will have seventy-two of these houris in Paradise, and his intercourse with them will be fruitful or otherwise, according to his wish. If an offspring is desired, it will grow to full estate in an hour. (Persian, huri; Arabic, huriya, nymphs of paradise. Compare ahivar, black-eyed.) (The Koran.)

House (1 syl.). In astrology the whole heaven is divided into twelve portions, called "houses," through which the heavenly bodies pass every twenty-four hours. In casting a man's fortune by the stars, the whole host is divided into two parts (beginning from the east), six above and six below the horizon. The eastern ones are called the ascendant, because they are about to rise; the other six are the descendant, because they have already passed the zenith. The twelve houses are thus awarded: -
   (1) House of life; (2) House of fortune and riches; (3) House of brethren; (4) House of relatives; (5) House of children; (6) House of health.
   (7) House of marriage; (8) House of death (the upper portal); (9) House of religion; (10) House of dignities; (11) House of friends and benefactors; (12) House of enemies.

House dwelling.
   Like a house afire Very rapidly. "He is getting on like a house afire" means he is getting on excellently.
   To bring down the house (in a theatre, etc.) is to receive unusual and rapturous applause.
   To keep house. To maintain a separate establishment. "To go into house-keeping" is to start a private establishment.
   To keep a good house. To supply a bountiful table.
   To keep open house. To give free entertainment to all who choose to come. "Omnes benigne mensâ occipere." In French, "Tenir table ouverte."
   To throw the house out of the windows. To throw all things into confusion from exuberance of spirit (á des excès de joie). "Coelum terræ, terram coelo miscere;" or "Omnia confundere." In French, "Jeter le maison par le fenêtres."

House Race or lineage; as, "the House of Hanover," "the House of Austria."

House-bote A sufficient allowance of wood to repair the dwelling and to supply fuel.

House-flag (A). The distinguishing flag of a company of shipowners or of a single ship-owner, as, for instance, that of the Cunard Company.

House-leek [Jove's beard]. Grown on house-roofs, from the notion that it warded off lightning. Charlemagne made an edict that every one of his subjects should have house-leek on his house-roof. The words are, "Et habet quisque supra domum suum Jovis barbam." It was thought to ward off all evil spirits. Fevers as well as lightning were at one time supposed to be due to evil spirits.

"If the herb house-leek or syngreen do grow on the house-top, the same house is never stricken with lightning or thunder" - Thomas Hill: Natural and Artf. Conclusion.

House Spirits
Of DENMARK, Nis or Nisse (2 syl.).
Of ENGLAND, Puck or Robin Goodfellow.
Of FAROE ISLANDS, Niagruisar.
Of MINLAND, Para.
Of FRANCE, Esprit Follet.
Of GERMANY, Kobold.
Of MUNSTER, Fear Dearg or Red Man.
Of NAPLES, Monaciello or Little Monk.
Of NORWAY, same as Denmark.
Of SCOTLAND, Brownie.
Of SPAIN, Duende (3 syl.).
Of SWITZERLAND, Jack of the Bowl.
Of VAUDOIS, Servant.
   Others of particular houses.