Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1870-08-19
" Cheek"

~ =" 'f@'b Va haiaA tfib tJC iIOSl
fastidious etymologist might be pardoned
in the occasional use of them.
There is kind of guerrilla English
having its origin on the streets, along
the wharves, among the newsboys, and
elsewhere beyond the precincts of the
schools. 1t annexes itself to the Ian
guage in spite of the dctionary-makers :
it will not be frowned away by the dis
approval of any LII. D.; it has its birth
somewhere, somehow, because there is
need of it; and presently it ascends from
the servants hall to the parlor, and gets
a foothold on the tapestry; the newspa-
pers adopt it, and thus we have it en-
grated apon the language. The erudite
graduate will tell US that this is all
wrong; that we ought to draw every ex;
preston from the "well of English un-
defled;" and that (tor instance) the
word cheek signifies nothing else than
that part of the face below the eyes on
each side But facts are facts, after all
and people will continue to use this word
in the highly expressive sense of sun.
blushing impudence," or =" brazen effron-
try" We have selected it from the
great stream of slang running through
the speech of the people as perhaps bet
ter calculated than any other to illus
traIe the wonderful expressiveness of
this guerrilla English"
" What dye think of young TT"
was lately asked in our hearing.
a cheeky boy" was the answer
Could volumes have spoken more accu-
rately of fast, saucy young America than
that?
At table lately, lean and hungry
looking person, whose appearance denot-
ed that "square meals" were with him
as angel visits, coolly appropriated the
whole contents of an uncommon dish,' of
which the supply was known to be limi-
ted. His opposite sat waiting for the
dish to reach him; and as he saw it re-
placed, empty, upon the table, after the
wholesale appropriation of its contents,
his vexation and disappointment found
vent in the one word, uttered with an
emphasis that no amount of underscor-
ing here can reproduce:
"Cheek !"
The other diners laughed and smiled
approvingly, and the hedinner-table private
Redeemed from his nose beyond his ears.
The lesson will not be lost on him.
We have all had some experience on
the railwaytrains with class of people
whose conduct can.fow from a plenti-
ful supply of the quality named herein.
We enter car, and the first view tells
us it is full-or nearly SO. No vacant
seat attracts our eye We walk on, and
to us appears the figure ofa spruce young
man, with a look of hard decision about
the angles of his face. sitting by the
window, while great valise beside him
occupies the balance of the seat. We
stop, we hesitate; we don'tlike to address
him, for we don't fancy that look; but
we do want seat He looks straight
out of the window, and pretends to be
unaware of our presence.
"Sirr say we. "Sir-"
He turns his head and contemplates us
with stony eye.
Sir-is the schole of this seat taken?''
Yes. sir !''
He hurls the words at us like charge
of shot. We mnrmur, Indignantly,
" cheek" and pass on. No other word
that we know of can describe such con-
duct
"Here is this bill for that suit your
are wearing, Mr.. Blue JAY" says the ex-
tailor. "Do you intend to pay
it, or not, sir? five presen ted it once
have eleven times sir"
"Ah, indeed ?" blandly replies the Je-
remy Diddler. Well, now, l think you'd
better present it again, and that'll just
make the even dozen don't you see? l
never did like odd numbers"
Would anybody think of giving that
any such mild name as impudences 1t
is cheek-downright cheek.
"Got any fiour?' asked fellow who
sauntered into country store, with bis
hands in his pockets.
"Oh, yes, sir :" answers the merchant,
with alacrity. Extra and superfne-"
"Any sugar.
Certainly, sir; white and yellow cof-
fee, crushed, powdered"
Butter ?"
"Some Just come in-sweet and nice"
"Eggsr'
"Plenty of 'em, sir"
We'll, I'm glad to hear it," drawls
he joker. "These things are all useful