PIDDOCK (of uncertain etymology). A hi valve mollusk of the genus Pholas. related to the ship-worms (q.v.). The shell is thin, white, and very hard. and beset with ealeareons inequalities, eonnected by tine transverse parallel ridges. form ing a kind of rasp, used by the animal for boring a hole, in rock, wood, or other substances in which it lives. The animal itself is club-shaped, with large, long siphons, united almost to the end. and a short foot. The shell is two or three inches in length, gaping at both ends and pro vided With two accessory valves. The siphons are two or three times as long as the shell and are extended to the opening of the hole in which this animal lives. Several species occur on the east ern coast of Ameriea, living buried in mud or clay. The commonest species is Pholas which lives in clay o• peat banks between tides, and burrows into them to a depth of a foot or more. A larger and liner species is Pholas cos tato, found only in deep water. Two or three species are used in Great Britain for bait and for food. in boring its hole, the piddock fixes itself firmly by its foot, and works itself from side to side, making use thus of the rasping power of its shell. See Colored Plate of CLAMS AN D EnuaLE l'SSELS.
PIDGIN (('hinese corruption of Eng. busi ness), or ENomsu. A mixed language much in use in the ports of China, as 0 medium of oral communication between foreigners who cannot speak Chinese (merchants, sea-captains, sailors, etc.) and such Chinese servants, shop keepers, compradores, boatmen, etc., as they may have to converse with. it is ago occasionally used by natives from different ports whose own dialects are so different as to be mutually un intelligible. It consists of a mixture of English words, mostly monosyllabic, with corrupted Chi nese, Portuguese, _Malay, and other terms and arranged according to Chinese idiom.
These words are "uninflected" except to the ex tent that vowel-endings such as o or l( are fre quently added after certain consonants winch the Chinese in common with the Japanese are un able to pronounce without a following vowel; for example: trushcc for wash: larger for large; s'posec for suppose: wifo for wife. Owing to the inability of the Chinese to pronounee initial r, / takes its place, and 'rice' becomes lice: 'American' becomes J/rlicnn; 'friend' becomes //en', and 'try' becomes Iii. Among the cor rupted Chinese words are holdwry, noise, dis turbance, abuse, scold, either noun or verb, as "you makee (mu muchee bobbery"; "how fashion you bobbery my?" Chop is a mark, brand, or device; chop-chop means 'quick! make haste!' and the same (-hop occurs in chop-sticks or 'hostell ers' used in eating. means food or eat; and nraskrc (probably of Malay or Portu guese origin), 'never mind! no matter!' Belong takes the place of 'be'; nay is equivalent to I, me, my. mine ("no belong my" = I didn't do it, or it is not mine). means 'know': 'not' is replaced by no, and the sentence of Ham let's famous soliloquy, "To be or not to be! That is the question," is simply rendered by "Can do. no can do! Ilow fashion?" Joss-pidyin means religious ceremony, and Joss-pidgin menu, a priest, clergyman, or missionary. In the same a tourist or sightseer becomes a look-sec HUM, and 'get' is expressed by cOchce. Consult Lentz der englischen l'olkssprarhe tra liens and der englischen-1lischsIu'aclan (Hane, 1591).