Smyrna times., 1870-02-23
mise eIIUW eOuS. .
American Idioms.

1t is amusing and somewhat instructive to
observe the idiOmatic words and phrases which
are common IN different sections of the cOun-
try and among particular classes. Words
that have never been seen in any dictionary
are heard in common and serious use, and
others that are familiar are found to have ac-
quired new and surprising Specifications.
1t is said that statement like the following
would be quite ineligible in the West
{" Look here, Judge! See what your bows
been at He picked up gravelrock (stone),
chucked it over lneighbor Barnes haydoodle
(haycOck), and killed our bobiddy (rooster)."
AT seems to be favorite Western preposi.
ton, as in the sentences, Where did you get
cold at?" Where do you live at?" In Ar
KANSAS, stone would be called donock."
In tue South or Southwest, to carry is to
"tote;" loaf of bread is pone :" small
stream is rum canoe fashioned from a
large log is, very expressively, dug out.
Er'rWhlng is light smart, as when a con-
siderab e distance is said to be right smart
ways. We and you are I'VE uns" and You
uus: and in the use of the verb to do such
expressions occur as . gone done it." g. He
gone done it." You uns gwine gone done
1t, They uns gwine gone done it..
The idiomatic words, together with the pc
cuiar pronunciation of the Yankee, have given
him in the pages of Sam Slick, and in the
more refined works of Lowell, dialect of his
own. In New England, thing that is full is
chuck full a thing that is new is bran
Cor brandt new; and clean thing is "spick
span Clean The word kindly or kind O.
has come into almost universal use in the
sense OF rather; as when thing is kindly nice,
kindly good A nice girl is kindly scrump-
tlOus." Pretty is very generally used in the
same sense, as pretty good, pretty nice
Illness w IL in No IL
land, though it is an English word transplant
ed, Is not Synonymous with think or believe
1t expresses meaning purely its own, and
though considered ungentee Dy some fastidiOus
persons, seems to me to be very useful in pre-
fixing thought which we are willing to ad-
NIT is only thrown out for what it is worth,
and may be modified at any time But the
use Of " calculate" in the same sense is exc
cradle.
The New -Englanders have some curiousco
plants, among which are "connipton fits. -
maggrums, "-megrims,-" rheumatics" and
byp0. A Boston poet has written " Sud
bury Ballad about little girl with mourning
ribbon ID her hair, who instead of indnlging il
little refrain similar to that of Wordsworth
little heroine, I'VE are seven" reiterated
continually that her aunt died of " shocanun
palsy
In New York great talker is said to elbow
or gas; in the West he is said to 'gostrate >
aud in New New England farmers wifi
sometimes advises garrulous nelghbor not t.
bob around SO much. The latter seems Il
be acOrruption of bah, as splosh' and 'sio>h
are used in New England for splash and slush
4 Indian meal boiled is called in New-EnglanC
i hasty pudding" in other parts of the coun
try mush. The Indian name was "sup
pawn, which is now often used. In England
aamInute pudding is hasty pudding" Il
New England, corn bread is johnny cake >
IN the South, it is sometimes baked by the nc
grOes on hoe.
A long article might be written merely OF
utles that have been given in various ages
Countries and sections to money Rhino, tn
TN, the necdful, the ready the ducats, the dust
The sponduIix, are all old. In the West, tn
popular synonym for funds is now said to b
koshpoppy, the derivation of which it wOu
Oe dlthcult to guess. In England, Overshoe
are called galOshes )" in New ork they ar
rubbers, and in Pennsylvania they are cal
"a gums" A Philadelphia gentleman an
us vile visited friend in New York, and on
evening when they had been out, the gentle
man entered the parlor alone. Where
LInlIy!" said the host. Oh she is outsid
TIesa19g her gums upon the mat, said tn
shladelphian. A momentary astonishmen
e . .Ios'ed the feature of the New Yorker, whic
'Oon gave way to laughter.
l1 some parts of Vermont, popular"
aseu IN the offensive sense of sristocratic an
N powerful is common in the sense of great
~ sry, as when a man who has a great many az
yes IS said to have a powerful sight of ap
reS, or as when tea is said to be "pOwerfl
aaeaK. One particular thing is said to be
saeap sight" better than another. The wOr
..loW has in good usage the meaning of 10
sN OF person, as well as the better signiica
g son OF brother or companion, as in " Fellow
@e Royal Academy" but in Connecticut, ar
ssanaps elsewhere, young ladis give still anOt
Ssmeaning. A girl was escorted home fro
payer meeting bya young man to whom 81
-, ns not especially partial. On leaving her
marked, will come to see you again ne
SS%mRdaay night" The lady replied very frankl
wei, Bill, you can come as friend, but n
,Anheadquarters Of police, or, as the pop
sometimes term it, lookup, is called
NV York Station House, though in mar
saces this word is more correctly used to inc
Se stopping house on railroads. "Depo
-. however, become almost universal in ii
sgSse, though incorrectly, for depot is real
Mouse employed for the purpose of storag
ar cities where vegetables are called truck
araen IS issometimes named truck patch
nj snah tin pail is often called by the city pc
kettle, while others speak of it as a buc