Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-08-13
Philadelphia Times.I

The generous quantity of slang
that bubbles out of the average
actor, particularly those effusive
bipeds, the "artists" of variety
theaters, "would have made Quin.
lillian stare and gasp" Several
strong detachments of the un-
crushed ones have found sum mer
quarters here, and any evening
they may be seen posing before
the Continental Hotel, drawing
nutriment from toothpicks and the
heads of their walking sticks.
They are untiring takers, and the
number of mean things they find
to say about absent members of
tn cir guild would sstonish a per.
son unfamiiinr 18th thta sprE,pfiesss,
sjoRA usYd' B." these disciples Of
Thespis would fill q book and every
season the number is increased.
The greater part of this slang is
coined by the performers in vari.
ETY. theaters, who, not having
much good language at their COM
mand, enlarge their vocabularies
from time to time by ipventing
words and phrases which, in their
opinion are eminently proper.
Some of the expressions are terse
and pithy, but the maj ority border
on driveling idiocy. People in
legitimate theaters lard their con-
versation with great deal of slang,
but not to the extent their brothers
of the variety halls do. Some
slang expressions, which apply
solely to the theater, are never
heard in general conversation on
the street, but most of the words
soon come into general use. The
conversation Of slangy actor is
about as Ineligible to the aver.
age person as Arabic would be-.
When q song ard dance man
with five hundred dollar diamond
pin and shining black hat propped
himself against a pillar of the Con-
tinental Hotel last evening and
said to an acquaintance, "CulI, you
should have seen the frost his jags
struck when he went on,u be
meant that the acting of a mutual
friend was not applauded by those
who saw it. If this representative
of the burnt cork branch of the
business desired to express his con.
tempt for "Gilhooly and McGin-
mis-, IreIand's peerless characteriza-
tionists," he would wither the
peerless pair by calling them
lays" or "chumps," or "duffers,"
or franks" or perhaps "hams.u
If, on the contrary, the "character-
izationists",w were his friends and
in his opinion clever performers,
he would express it all by saying
they were "dandies," word, by
the way, which he would use in
the same sense while speaking of
female. He calls beautiful wo-
man q "lalla," a "dandy," or a
"corker," and an ugly one O
"chromo." If miss Beatrice
Maud McGonigle's Vocalizations"
are not up to the standard she is
said to be a "piano voice." and If
she plays badly she is set down as
livery come off" or awfully "bla-
bla." A performer who "gets
hands, or, in other words, is ap-
plauded, is said to have shit EN-
hard" An encore is "call,n and
double encore is "dandy call.u
An astonished person is "knock.
ed out" or ''fashed," and while a
prosperous man is sup in g." a fell
low in hard luck is said to be
"skating on his uppers." An un-
satisfactory performance is referred
to as ''bun show" while its an
tithesis is "honey cooler" A
good-natured man is an "angel,u
and If more than one specimen of
that variety of mankind is seen,
angels are said to be "fying low"
When an actor inquiries at what
hour he will receive his salary he
is almost certain to say, "When
will the ghost walkT' or "When
will the apparition appear?n Ask
ing questions of this kind Is called
"bracing the box Office" To make
an engagement with frie nd is to
"fix a date" and to travel with
company through inte.
rior towns is called "barn storm
ing" All actors, except circus
ers, are called "fakirsu and
q costume is a "fakement." The
circus people are termed "sawdust
and they only speak of
actors as "mummers."
Small combinations playing In
country towns are called "snaps,n
but the same term Is frequently