The Portland daily press., 1872-06-21
THE PRESS.
Americanisms.

1t is curious fact that the original Ian
guage of a people is, not unfrequently, pre-
served in greater purity in its colonies tnan
in the mother country Thus, the descend
ants of the Greek colonists OF Asia Minor
speak language much nearer, IN all respects,
the ancient Greek, than that OF the cities OF
Greece proper Spanish more closely resem-
bles Latin than it does italian. Dutch has a
greater similarity to the old German than the
dialect now spoken throughout northern Ger
many. And finally,-oddly as the assertion
may sound in English ears,-the inhabitants
of the New England States of America speak
a language bearing greater affinity to that
of this country in the time of Charles l., than
does our modern English. Not only have
words survived but forms of expression, and
even pronunciation, have been preserved IN
New England, which have become obsolete
here. Indeed many words now considered
purely American, were in common use in this
country two and half to three centuries
ago. Thus. brink, to deck, to adorn, is still
used in the eastern States in the sense in
which it was employed in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth by both Spencer and Shakespeare.
One Yankee girl will say to another whose
toilet may appear to have taken some time:
"Oh, you've been prinking;" or, ''What
time you've taken to prink." In fact the
word is used in all its modes and lenses.
MuSs, confused encounter POSSIBLY cor
ruption of the French melee, is generally sup
posed to be purely American idiom. On the
contrary, it is good Shakespearean English.
In "Antony and Cleopatra" Antony says:
''When late | spake, like boys unto muss,
kings would rush forth;'' and the word is
used by both Massinger and Fletcher. Lam,
to beat, is another American word which
claims English parentage. Sir Walter Scott
says in "Peveril of the Peak that the
phrase was in common use in the time of
Charles Ill and asserts that it was derived
from the fate of DR.. Lamb, an astrologer;
who was knocked on the head by the mob in
the preceding reign: Sick, which is univer-
sally used in the United States in the sense
in which the word i'll is employed in this
country; was, it need scarcely be said, per-
fectly good English in the times of James :;
the expression ill, in the sense we now I'M
derstand it, not once occurring, believe, in
the authorized translation of the Bible. Bug,
again. used in America as generic term for
every species of insect, is a good old English
word. "a bug hath buzzed it in my ears"
says Bacon inone OF his letters and the word
will be frequently found in contemporary lit
erature. AT the present day it is so complete
ly obsolete in England, that when, a few years
ago, an edition of the late Edgar Allen Poe's
works was published in London, the editor
was obliged to alter the title of that clever
little story, ''The Golden Bug,'' to ssThe
Golden Beetle" in order not to give offense
to English ears. Of American idiomis prop
er, two OF the most curious are the words
cteUer and smart = smart, throughout the
United States, meaning clever; while clever
is used in the sense of good natured. Why
these two words should-have lost their origi-
nal Specification is not easy to conjecture;
though parallel may be found in this coun-
try in the case of the expressions let and pre-
rent, which, in the course of the last three
hundred years, have interchanged meanings
Logger, lazy, idle .vagabond, and ro,vdy,
believe, purely American idioms. Lord Bull
wer, therefore, in his comedy of ''Walpole; or,
Every Man has his Price," has been guilty of
slight anachronism in putting the latter
word into the mouth of Sir Robert, who
speaks, on one occasion, of ''rowdy electors"
Chambers Journal. .a