26 JUNE 1909, Page 33

[To THE EDITOR OF TED " spNerAToit."] SIR,—Your phrase, "

to abound in " (meaning " to agree entirely with "), is evidently reminiscent of the Freuch idiom " abonder dans son sons" (late Latin, abundare in suo aensu), meaning to follow, or have full confidence in, one's own opinion. Abonder iu this phrase is explained by Littre as meaning " se livrer sans mesure." The same phrase, "to abound in one's own sense," is used in English by various old writers, the most recent example in the Oxford Dictionary being from Burke,—" to let others abound in their own sense." French idiom, however, allows an extension in the matter of person; thus one can say, " j'abonde dans votre sens." And from this to your phrase, with its equivalent for Bens ("in every word here used," &c.), is a very short step indeed.—I am, Sir, &a.,