Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1874-09-10
Slang.

80 HssS SOs statupS, VI u drunken |
man, that he is tight or "boozy;" Of
anything that pleases US or is satisfactory.
that it Is stunning" lawful" is considered
better word than very, and we are awful |
cold, or hot, or sick, or jolly, as the case
may be; 1t Is finer to say ''you bet" than to |
answer question by simple yes every
thing that annOys US Is internal" or
'beastly;' bank-bills are green bank ; | |
heard lady in good society say recently
that her dress-maker had disappointed |
her' and that In consequence she was reg
ularly up tree;' we threaten, no: humil. |
late or mortify IA man, but TO take the /
starch out of him; We rack our brain to in |
vent slang words for various drinks, and
brin. out such names as forty rod tan. |
gle-foot. 'rot-gut, 'blue-ruin,, : and jersey
lightning words that would more than
puzzle foreigner; man is not cheated. |
but done brown or 'bamboozled: rail-
road conductors do not steal (in fact we
are getting little sensitive about using
the world, but knock down. bank cash |
iers do not swindle and Steal but commit
irregularities; we hear of a house BEING
'bursled' and that two foot-pads went
through belated traveller; fair dealer
Is spoken of as a square man most won
deriul tusns ndturP, a substantial dinner
Is spoken OF as square meal we hear in
vitations given, not to take a drink, but To
hoist in some poison anything antiauated
or exhausted is played out : an insufficient
excuse Is said to be too thinor we are told
that it will not wash we buy stocks on
margin or sell them short or bull the
market, or take flyer or scoop in
long line of stocks we do not stake sum
of money. but bet our pile;' after convi-
vial party we next morning find ourselves
precious seedy; our railroad trains tel
escope, or a Pullman breaks wheel Ia
party of rowdies clean out, a drinking sa-
loon; big man threatens to wipe out
little one; We do not outwit or circumyent
another. but 'euchre' him; we take the
shine out OF rival, and fix his flint for
him; carpenter runs up cheap house
in a week; an investigating committee in
Crongress 'whitewashes' the character of
some defaulter, and so on and so forth in
all the departments OF business aud trade
and social intercourse we permit ourselves
TO use words and phrases which are of no
authority, often vulgar and always need
less
1t may be objected to the purist that the
spoken language is of no consequence. so
long as we write correctly and with ,,n-
gance. But alas that evil commnni, L.
tons corrupt good manners is no more
true than that slangy conversation leads to
slip-shop, slangy writing, and it often hap
pens that some detestable word of no au-
thority, and having no right in the Ian
guage, slips from conversation into print
and usurps place for itself Here again
the modern newspaper has much to answer
for in the deterioration of language Slang
usurps the place of wit, and u cant phrase
is often made the poor substitute for
witty repartee. 1t is untrue to say that
slang is only used by the low and Hitter
ate. On the other hand, its use pervades
all the strata Of society, from the clergy
man to the street beggar, each, of course,
using a slang of a different order, but both
to often Indulging in the use of words
which no dictionary explains. And just
here is something to be said. We hear ev-
cry day, in all social circles, multitude
OF words and phrases that have. so to
speak. no legal existence, and which must
sOrely puzzle foreigner as he turns in
vain from one dictionary to another. He
has no authority but usage-and usage is
perpetually changing-as to what is lawful
English and what is not, what he can use
in polite circles and what he must shun.
and to this lack OF authority half his trou-
bles in learning to speak English are due
And the Englishman himself it has been
well said, has never done learning his own
language. He is overwhelmed BY the
multitude Of new words, and he has no un-
| disputed authority to guide him in the
use OF old ones.
They manage these things better in
France The dictionary OF the French
Academy-supplanted now perhaps by
Littre's-has been held to be a model of
elegance and prOpriety in speaking and
writing the French language. Every pre-
tender to literary eminence models his
language upon the scademy's dictionary,
and the language, too, has become the lam
guase Of diplomacy over all Europe and in
Russia. Russian gentleman's children
learn to speak French as an indispensable
part Of their education, and the acquisition
of such knowledge Of the language as
will enable them to carry on an ordinary
conversation is regarded as a matter OF
course. A traveller, il he can speak
French, will be toleraoly at home in St.
Petersburg or Constanstinople, Or Berlin,