633. _oversloppe_, upper garment. So in Icelandic, _yfirsloppr_ means [419]
an outer gown; as, 'prestar skrýddir yfirsloppum,' i. e. priests clad in
over-slops, Historia Ecclesiastica, i. 473. The word _slop_ is preserved in
the somewhat vulgar '_slop_-shop,' i. e. shop for second-hand clothes.
635. _baudy_, dirty. _to-tore_, torn in half. So in Piers Plowman, B. v.
197, Avarice is described as wearing a 'tabard' which is 'al to-torn and
baudy.'
639. The second person sing. imperative seldom exhibits a final _e_; but it
is sometimes found in weak verbs, _tellen_ being one of them. The readings
are--_Telle_, E. Cp. Pt. Hl.; _Tel_, Ln. Cm. Elsewhere, we find _tel_, as
in D. 1298.
641. _for_, &c.; because he shall never thrive. The Yeoman blurts out the
truth, and is then afraid he has said too much. In l. 644, he gives an
evasive and politer reason, declaring that his lord is 'too wise'; see l.
648.
645. _That that_, that which. In the margin of MS. E. is written--'Omne
quod est nimium, &c.'; which is probably short for--'Omne quod est nimium
uertitur in uitium.' We also find--'Omne nimium nocet.' The corresponding
English proverb is--'Too much of one thing is not good' (Heywood); on which
Ray remarks--'Assez y a si trop n'y a; _French_. Ne quid nimis;
_Terentius_. [Greek: Mêden agan.] This is an apothegm of one of the seven
wise men; some attribute it to Thales, some to Solon. Est modus in rebus,
sunt certi denique fines; _Horat._ Sat. i. 1. 106. L'abbondanza delle cose
ingenera fastidio; _Ital._ Cada dia olla, amargo el caldo; _Spanish_.' We
also find in Hazlitt's English Proverbs--'Too much cunning undoes.'--'Too
much is stark nought.'--'Too much of a good thing.'--'Too much spoileth,
too little is nothing.' See also the collection of similar proverbs in Ida
v. Düringsfeld's Sprichwörter, i. 37, 38.