Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1875-07-15
AMERICAN DIALECT.

Dr. Nichols, in his book on Forty years in
America, gives the following illustrations of
peculiar American dialect. They are deci'
dedly peculiar and somewhat amusing. He
says "Besides peculiarities of articulation
and enunciation, there are forms of expression
peculiar to and characteristic Of each section
of the American States. An old-fashioned
Yankee is shy ofswearing; he says, L vum,'
4 swon,' 4 swow,'I VOW darn it, 'gaul darn
your picture by golly,' 'golly crimus. and
uses other ingenious and cowardly substitutes
for profanity. The Western man rips out re.
morseless oaths, swearing blue streak with
remarkable breadth of expression. Where
as Hoosier describes himself as 'catawam.
pously chawed up, the Yankee is merely 8
gone sucker Inquire about his health, and
be tells you he is so as to be crawling! He
talks of 'spunkin' up to an ALFRED, tarnation
slick gal, clean grit, I tell yeou neow;' and,
naturally, he has "a kinder sneakin' notion
arter her. If she were to tell him to 'hold
his yawp,' he would admit that he felt kinder
streaked, by golly' He describes man as
being handsome as picter, but so tarnation
ugly : or as thunderin' fool, but clever
critter as ever lived'-ugly is a Yankee word
for wicked, and clever for good-natured: A
plain girl is as homely as hedge.fence.' A
Yankee brags that he is a hull team and q
hoss to let.' You can't tucker him eout.
1t beats all natur heow he can 60 it when he
gets his dander up He has got his eye.
teeth cut, true as preachin'.' He gets hop
PIN mad,' and makes all gee agin.' He is
dreadful glad to see you,' and is powerful
sorry you enjoy such poor health but read
Lowell's Zeke Biglow, or Mrs. Stoves Sam
Lawson.
M am inclined to think the Western vocab-
ulary more copious than that of the Yankee
proper. The language, like the country, has
certain breadth and magnitude about it. A
Western man sleeps so sound it would take
an earthquake to wake him. He is in dan
ger pretty considerable much, because some
body was down on him, like the whole Mis-.
souri, on sand.bar' He is gone coon.
He is down on all 'cussed varmints,' gets into
an everlasting FIX and holds that the long
est pole knocks down the persimons.' A sto'
~ Smells rather TALL Stranger he says,
in bar hunts I am numerous He says q
pathetic story sunk into his feelings like a
snagged boat into the Mississippi He tells
of person 'as cross as bar with two cubs
and a sore tall He laughs like hyena
over dead nigger.' He walks through a
fence like falling tree through cobweb.
He goes the whole hog He raises right
smart of corn and lives where there is "a
smart chance of bars Bust me wide open,
he says, if didn't bulge into the creek in
the twinkling of a bedpost, l was so thunder
in savagerous.'
"In the Southwest is found the combination
of Western and Southern character and
speech. The Southwestern man was born in
old Kaintuck, raised in Mississippi, is death
on bar, and smartly on a painter fight
He walks the water, out-hollers the thunder,
drinks the Mississippi calculates that he is is
the genuwine article, and that those he don't
like ain't worth shucks' He tells Of "a fellow
so poor and thin he had to lean up agin q
saplin' to cuss.' He gets 'as savage as meat
axe He 'splurges about and blows up
Ikea steamboat