Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-09-24
Americnn Slang

We allow ourselves to say of rich
man that he has got stamps" of a
drunken man, that he is " tight" or
boozy;" of anything that pleases US or
is satisfactory. that it is stunning"
awful is considered better word
than very, and we are awful cold or hot,
or sick, or jolly, as the case may be; it
is finer to say you bet than to answer
question by simple yes; everything
that annoys us is Internal" or beast
ly;" bank-bills are green backs;" |
heard lady in good society say recent
ly that her dress-maker had disappointed
her, and that in consequence she was
regularly up tree" we threaten, not
to humiliate or mortify man, but to
take the starch out Of him." we rack our
brain to invent slang words for various
drinks, and bring out such names as
forty rod, tanglefoot," rot.gut,
blue ruin" apd Jersey lightning, "
words that would more than puzzle a
foreigner; a man is not cheated, but
=" done brown" or bamboozled;" rail
road conductors do not steal lin fact we
are getting little sensitive about using
the word), but knock down." bank
cashiers do not swindle and steal, but
commit irregularities; we hear of
house being "burgled, and two foot pads
went through" belated traveller; fair
dealer is spoken Of as a square man,
a most wonderful lusus natur@; sub
stantial dinner is spoken of as square
meal we hear invitations given, not to
take drink, but to "hoist in some poi
SOM" anything antiquated or exhausted
is played OUT" an insufficient excuse
is said to be too thin, or we are told
that it will not wash" we buy stocks on
margin" or sell them short" or
bull the market, or take a flyer" or
scoop in long line OF stocks" we do
not stake a sum of money but bet our
pile;" after a convivial party we next |
morning find ourselves precious seedy;"
our railroad trains telescope" o. a
Pullman" breaks Wheel party of
rowdies clean out" drinking saloon;
big man threatens to wipe out" a |
little one; we do not outwit or circum-
vent another, but "euchre" him; we take
the shine out OF " rival, and Fix his |
flint for him; carpenter runs up"
cheap house in week; an investigating |
committee in Congress "whitewashes"
the character of some defaulter, and so
on and so forth in all the departments of
business and trade and social inter
course we permit ourselves to use words
and phrases which are of no authority,
often vulgar and always needless.
1t may be objected to the purist that
the spoken language is of nc conse-
auence, so long as we write correctly
and with elegance. But, alas that evil
communications corrupt good manners
is no more true than that slangy CONVEX
satiop leads to slip shod, slangy writing,
and it often happens that some detesta-
BILE word of no authority. and having no
right in the language, slips from colver-
sation into print and usurps place for
itself Here again the modern news
paper has much to answer for in the
Of language. Slang usurps
,he place of wit and cant phrase is
,ften made the poor substitute for a
witty repartee. 1t is untrue to say that
ilang is only used by the low and illit-
rate. On the other hand, its use per- ,
,ades all the strata of society, from the
clergyman to the street beggar, each, of
course, using a slang of a different
rider, but both too often indulging in
he use of words which no dictionary ex-
,lains. 7