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Home  »  The Odysseys of Homer, vol. 1  »  chapman1420

chapman1420

Shots–reckoning, sum charged. Though now only used as a vulgar term, it was not uncommon in our older writers. Shakespeare,

“A man is never welcome to a place till some certain shot be paid, and the hostess say, welcome.”–Two Gent. Veron. II. 5.

The derivation is from Anglo-Sax. sceat, tax, treasure, or a piece of metal in an uncoined state equal to a penny. See BOSWORTH’S Anglo-Sax. Dict. It occurs in almost every language. See Ital. scotto and Cotgrave in v. escot.