A contraction of ditto, which is the Italian détto (said), Latin dictus.
How do you do? i.e. How do you fare? It should be,
How do you du (Anglo-Saxon,
dug-an = valere); in Latin,
Quomodo vales.
Well to do. This, again, is not the transitive verb (
facre) but the intransitive verb (
valere), and means “well to fare.” (Anglo-Saxon.
dug-an = valere.
To do him i.e. cheat or trick a person out of something
I have done the Jew, i.e. over-reached him. The same as
outdo = excel.
Do
(to rhyme with go). The first or tonic note of the solfeggio system of music.
Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, Italian;
ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, French. The latter are borrowed from a hymn by Paulus Piaconus, addressed to St. John, which Guido, in the eleventh century, used in teaching singing:
“Ut queant laxis, Re -sonare fibris”,
Mi -ra gestorum
Fa -muli tuorum,
Sol -ve pollutis
La “-biis reatum.”
Sanctë Joannës.
Ut -tered be thy wondrous story,
Re -prehensive though I be,
Me make mindful of thy glory,
Fa -mous son of Zacharee;
Sol -ace to my spirit bring,
La -bouring thy praise to sing.
E.C.B. (
See WEIZIUS in
Heortologio, p. 263.) Le Maire added
si (seventeenth century). (
See Aretinian Syllables.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
