Chapter P to Pagan Works of Art of P by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

P to Pagan Works of Art

P This letter is a rude outline of a man's mouth, the upright being the neck. In Hebrew it is called pe (the mouth).

P The five P's. William Oxberry was so called, because he was Printer, Poet, Publisher, Publican, and Player. (1784-1824.)

P [alliterative]. In 1548, Placentius, a Dominican monk, wrote a poem of 253 hexameter verses (called Pugna Porcorum), every word of which begins with the letter p. It opens thus:-

“Praise Paul's prize pig's prolific progeny.”

    In English heroics the letter A or T would be far more easy, as they would give us articles.

P.C (patres conscripti). The Roman senate. The hundred senators appointed by Romulus were called simply patres; a second hundred added by Tatius, upon the union of the Sabines with the Romans, were called patres minorum gentium; a third hundred subsequently added by Tarquinius Priscus were termed patres conscripti, an expression applied to a fourth and fifth hundred conscribed to the original patres or senators. Latterly the term was applied to the whole body.

P., P.P., P.P.P (in music). P = piano, pp = pianissimo, and ppp = pianississimo. Sometimes pp means più piano (more softly).
    So f = forte, ff = fortissimo, and fff = fortississimo.

P.P.C (pour prendre congé). For leave-taking; sometimes written on the address cards of persons about to leave a locality when they pay their farewell visits. In English, paid parting call.

P.S (post-scriptum). Written afterwards- i.e. after the letter or book was finished. (Latin.)

P's and Q's Mind your P's and Q's. Be very circumspect in your behaviour.
   Several explanations have been suggested, but none seems to be wholly satisfactory. The following comes nearest to the point of the caution:- In the reign of Louis XIV., when wigs of unwieldy size were worn, and bows were made with very great formality; two things were specially required, a “step” with the feet, and a low bend of the body. In the latter the wig would be very apt to get deranged, and even to fall off. The caution, therefore, of the French dancing-master to his pupils was, “Mind your P's [i.e. pieds, feet] and Q's [i.e. queues, wigs].”

Pabana (The) or Peacock Dance. A grave and stately Spanish dance, so called from the manner in which the lady held up her skirt during the performance.

Pacific Ocean (The). So called by Magellan, because he enjoyed calm weather and a placid sea when he sailed across it. All the more striking after the stormy and tempestuous passage of the adjoining straits.
   The Pacific.
   Amadeus VIII., Count of Savoy. (1383, 1391-1439; died 1451.)
   Frederick III., Emperor of Germany. (1415, 1440-1493.)
   Olaus III. of Norway. (*, 1030-1093.)

Packing a Jury Selecting persons on a jury whose verdict may be relied on from proclivity, far more than on evidence.

Pacolet A dwarf in the service of Lady Clerimond. He had a winged horse, which carried off Valentine, Orson, and Clerimond from the dungeon of Ferragus to the palace of King Pepin, and afterwards carried Valentine to the palace of Alexander, Emperor of Constantinople, his father. (Valentine and Orson.)
   It is a horse of Pacolet. (French.) A very swift one, that will carry the rider anywhere; in allusion to the enchanted flying horse of wood, belonging to the dwarf Pacolet. (See above.

“I fear neither shot nor arrow, nor any horse how swift soever he may be, not though he could outstrip the Pegasus of Perseus or of Pacolet, being assured that I can make good my escape.”
   - Rabelais: Gargantua, bk. ii. 24.