subs. (old).—Formerly a term of contempt: prior to 1617 the business of grocer and chemist was combined, and it was not till 1815 that the status of an apothecary, as a medical practitioner, was legally held by licence and examination of the APOTHECARIES Company. Hence TO TALK LIKE AN APOTHECARY, verb. phr. (old).—To talk nonsense; ‘to use (GROSE) hard or gallipot words: from the assumed gravity and affectation of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this profession who are commonly as superficial in their learning as they are pedantic in their language.’ Also APOTHECARIES’-LATIN = gibberish, DOG- (KITCHEN-, or RAW-) LATIN (q.v.); APOTHECARIES’-BILL = a long undetailed account: cf. BAWDY-HOUSE RECKONING. Likewise PROVERBIAL SAYINGS: ‘A broken APOTHECARY, a new doctor’; ‘APOTHECARIES would not give pills in sugar unless they were bitter.’
