Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-12-08
THE SLANG OF CRITICISM.
Thirty.twO Synonyms for Drunken
ness and Seventeen for Money
Degeneration Of the En-
'N glish Language.
VASTLY OFFENSIVE" !"

From the Court Circular.l
The growth of slang means the decay
of language; the admission of a nomen-
clature which disregards propriety and
fixes upon objects irrational and incon.
sistent names, is at once nuisance and
vice, and persistence in it means the
inevitable debasing. of the mother
tongue, a course which the scholars of
all ages have endeavored TO check, while
their efforts were strenuously directed to
refine elevate and improve. There has
been growing tendency to incorporate
into our already too barbarous aud in-
congruous language flood of cant
terms, American colloquialisms, galli-
cisms, sham classicisms, professional
idioms, ultramontsnisms, and a general
deluge of illiterate slang All this shows
want, not excess, Of fertility, and degeu-
Grafton rather than extension. England
being an adaptive nation, learns and
find home for new-fangled express
sions of all sorts, shielding herself when
attacked on the point with the excuse
that they are not of her own manufacture
but the passcr of bad coin is every whit
as guilty as the coiner, and England s
ready Endorsement of all the vulgar yo-
cabuability TO invent slang for herself.
Slang is of very modern date. There
was much homeliness and no little
coarseness in some OF the sayings OF the
famous writer's, and perhaps more face
tiousness and significance among our
great humorists than will be found now
a-days; but We see little or no tendency
to slang. Even In the famous highway
mans opera, Gay, who should have
known his subject, gives us nothing in
the conversations of his lowest characters
which requires glossary; while Dean
Swift, had such commodity as. slang
existed, would never have omitted to gar
nish his works with it for the good OF
posterity. Dictionaries of slang have
been published since his day, and the
latest publication, founded on Grose' s
famous book, has attained to goodly
dimensions for slang is on the increase
and no stand has been made against 1t,
because everybody, from the highest to
the lowest, cultivates aud speaks 1t.
WHAT is sLASG2
Words which are not to be found in
any standard dictionaries, and which are
unauthorized by grammatical or literary
precedent are slang, and such words are
used throughout the length and breadth
of the land by all degrees Of men indis-
criminately. The use Of vulgar equiva.
Tents distinguishes all Englishmen, and
il would weary our readers, and certainly
not enlighten them, were we to treat
them to complete list, corrected up TO
date, of the synonyms for some OF the
generic words in commonest use. For
money alone there are seventeen equlya-
lents, without counting the slang terms
applied to the various species of coins,
or the different expressions used 10 sig
nifty the being rich or poor. As might
be expected, in England, the synonyms
for drunkenness are plentiful, amounting
to no less than thirty-twoi and for one
article of drink, fruitful in producing
these names, namely, gin, we have
ten different equivalents. Man is liable
to be called cove, chap, a Gull, an
article. a codger, buffer, party;
and according to his grade, he has
some fifty subdivisions; according to his
profession, some eighty or more: This
that we have quoted is q mere drop IN
the ocean, mere casualties, enumerated
from memory, and without the least at
tempt at any exhaustive list; possibly,
with better knowledge we might aug
ment the list by at least double the
amount Slang, however, is not con-
cluded here; low language is not alone
in its argot; fashion has its vulgarity,
and a good deal Of il. too-as unmean-
ing gibberish as anything that we have
given hitherto, the great jest Of the fash
ionable slang being that it is made up OF
misconstrued French idioms, which, in
their English garb, are sheer nonsense.
Witness wedding ION tie fdpiS,
which is twaddle; the beau monde, which
is rubbish; the danedRte, which is rig
mnrole; n chGper0H, which is foolish
ness-to say nothing of the meaningless
frivolities Of such words as .faHr pas,
messaLIiance, recherche, and a thousand
other words falsely applied.
THE SLANG OF CRITICISM.
As to fashionable pronunciations which
in themselves mean slang We take no
cocnizance Of them; they are heeuug
material and change their aspect every
day. Criticism has its special slang,
which is vastly offensive, as being born
of emptiness and arrogance. A few
technical terms constitute the stock IN
trade Of every art critic in England, aud
fellowship IS the keystone Of praise OF
blame. Thns. through all stations Of so
cicty, runs the lode Of slang. Let our
readers for a moment conceive the diffi-
Guilty which presents itself TO a foreigner
when he encounters master OF slang
what tribulation, what uncertainty beseis
the unhappy stranger. 10 the object Of
his inquiry is a political move. he Is
Il OH rTaa