, 1874-10-31

! Slang.
frSM " ths Rer z. souls chorne in american Homes.
he IL slight" or tboozy;" Of anytlnr, tint thnt
pIcases US Or is satisfactory, thnt it IL sstu,-
ming" awful" ts considered hotter word
ens9 yGsY ana wo nre awful cold, or hot, or aic.
e. Jolly, ~ tho case may be; it Is iinor to say
you Dot, thnn to answcr nquestion by simple
| yes; everything that annoys us ia "lnfernal," !"
"6oastly;" oank-bila arc ''graonbaoks !"
dressmnkor had disappointed hor, and That In
consequence sl'o was ..s.rogularly up tree y wo
Threaten, not to hun,iliato or naortfy man. but
"to tako tho starch out Of him !" wo rack our
brain 70 invent alang words for various drinks,
rod, u taiislo.foot" - rot GUT t.. blue r1l.
and Jcraoy lightning" words that would moro
tl,an . puzzle foregnor man y not ohostod
om, dono pr 9a or railroad
!itto setta'tiVo about using tho. word), but
"knook down; !" bank cashiers do not aWindlo
aud steal. but commit Irregularities /" re hear
Of house boing "burglod." and that two foot
pads went through "a boa,cd traveller; fair
deales Is ssnokeu Of as Il "squnre man, d most
wonderful tHsus naturu substantial dinner in
spoken Of us "aauaro noai !" we hear inyi-
tations eiyon, not to tnko = drink, but to
or exhausted is "playou out !" % inautiioont
exouao is said to DO too thin," or vo ara toli
that 1t will not wash !" wo buy stocks on I,
margin" or aoll thena "ahort," or "bull " tho
market. or "tako flyer" or "scoop in long
limo of stocks :" wo do not atako sum Of mouoy'
but +" bet our p!o !" after oonvival party va
next morning lind o,lraelyoa "prccsous aoody !"
our railroad trains "telescopo," or q "Pullnhn"
breaks whool party Of rowdlcs "cleau outn
drinking saloon biz man throasena to "Wpo
out little ono; We do not outwit or clrcuna-
Won't another. but "ouchra" him: vo .staIo tia
slime out Of rival, and " ax his aint for
mm carpenter runs up" cheap house in
n Loaf fft1y r.
"wh1tewashos the character Of aomo dofaultor.
mud so on and 30 forth in sll tue departments of
puslnoss anu trade and eociul intercourse VIC pcr-
init ourselves to use words and phrases which
needless.
It may DO objected to tho pusist TINT tho
spoken language 10 Of no consequence, so long
US we write correctly aud with elegance, But
manners is no moro true than TINT alangy con-
sefsntlon eads to slip-shod, slangy writing, and
1t Often ha.pnous that some detestable word Of
no authority. aud having no right In tho Ian
guago. sfps from conversation into print aud |
usnrps place for itself. Here again tho mod
orn newspaper las much to answer for il tho d.
tertoration Of language. Slang usurps tho place |
OF w.t. and 2 cant phrase is often mado tho |
Poor t substItute for the witty ropartoc.
tue low aud illttorate: On the other hand, it, |
use perrades all tho strata OF socoty. from tho !
Clergyman to tho streot-beggar, each OF course
using u slang OF a different order. but both too
Sgg IL tho use Of words which no
70 he said. We hear erery dav, In all social cir
cles, multitude Of words aud phrases that have.
30 to speak, no legal existence and which must
sorelS puzzle a fo ogner, as he turns In vain
changing .-as to what is lawful Euglis6
md what ia not, what he can use in
NrIr 49, witt t,o1F