The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-05-08
Variations Of Expression In America
and ENGLAND.


essary to "Anglicise, almost to the ex-
tent of rewriting it, the dialogue of a
play written bv MIR. Brander Matthews,
an American author, and about TO be
produced at the Court Theater. in Lon
don, is a remarkable proof of the diver
gence of the everyday language OF the
two greatest English-speaGing countries
in the world. This is not mere mat
ter of accent or information, but of the
actual meaning attached to certain ia
miliar words aad expressions. In the
Oiden days of slow and difficult commu-
nication such difference in language
might be found in couple of Lanca-
shire or Yorkshire "a leys separated
ONLY by a LOFTY and ira ;klesS moor
! People did not wander far from home
before the invention OF railways, and
even now agricultural labOrers may be
found in Northeastern Essex who have
never been to Colchester, although it is
not ten miles from their native village.
Isoia ion is the parent OF dialect. Ii is
not. therefore, won lerful that England
and the United States, separated by
1909 miles Of sea, weariSOme voyage
for more than 2D0 years, should speak
varieties OF common langua re rather
than an identical tongue common to
both. 1t would argue very shallow OBJ
servation to INFER that ali the changes
and innovations have taken place on
the other side of the Atlantic, for many
OF the more salient AmericaniSms, as
| they are sometimes hastily called. are
really survivas OF good, so md English.
In such cases it will be found that the
original meaning OF the word has been
retained in the New England, while in
the Old either the signilication has
changed or the word dropped ont o.
use altogether. This was pointed out
by, among others. Mr.. Edward A.
Freeman, although he hardly selected
the best examples to illustrate undou5t-
edly sound doctrine. One of the most
familiar to those who study Ameri q,
instead of merely whisking through it,
Is the use OF the word sick" An
American does not say he is ''ill," any
more than would Miles COverdale have
done, but employs the old Biblical word
sick" now restricted in this country
to narrow Specification.
Perhaps the most remarkable in
stance ofsthiS divergence of language
is that Of the Eng iShman who was
dun ofOunded by statement made to
him by one OF the best housewives in
the State OF Massachusetts. Said she:
Il hal a lovely gray squirrel, quite
clever and cunning; but one day it
turned ugly and bit me-" How, was
his first thought. could lovely squirrel
-, >
ever, Will tell anybody that ugly" in
New England is used in the same sense
as that in which we st II speak OF a dis
agreeable, dangerous fellow as ian
ugly customer. lloluial phrase in
which an otherwise obsolete sense of
the word survives among Us. "Cleyer"
and cunning also are used in the
speech quoted above in an entirely diff
ferent sense from that understood by
us at present, with one exception: a
CLEVER hack" VIII oh does not signify
a horse whica can perform circus tricks
or even jump cleverly, but 4 handsome,
well-conditioned animal Cunning"
however, appears to be clear case of
transatlantic mutation, for in the lam
guage spoken in the Northern States it
has nothing to do with artfulness. 1t
signifies pretty, graceful. or engaging,
and is applied to children. A CLEVER"
man is in Boston parlance what zine"
man is in New York, fairly well-look-
ing. genial, good natured, and of high
moral character, the latter qualities
being more distinctly connoted by Zine
than a;tual good looks. This confuSeS
not Il little the newcomer who has been
Il :cuStOmed to think OF fine man as a
kind of well thickened life -guardsman.
and of fine woman as q JunO-like
matron, of the appearance abhorred by
Nathaniel Hawthorne. When an
American of the middle class wishes to
say that man is clever in the modern
English sense, he says that he is
smart" word used by US to indicate
neatneSS and celebrity at work, ut drill,
or in dress, and never with reference to
aStuteneSs. In the course of everyday
working life in the United States such
wO.d; IS those Just cited are in fire.
quent use, as well as the curious var a.
tons in the appellation of familiar
objects. Thus in the railway life, o.
which there is great deal in America,
the railway is the rail road" dis.
tinct survival Of the first term used in
england; the terminus, or railway
station, is tie depot" passengers do
not go by train, bat ''take the cas-"
or "Sleam-cars;' the 9 lard is soon
ductor," the luggage is baggage" if
the freight be corn" it is maize,
and no other cereal, AMI the passengers
are said to be Ion board.
1t is not only in railway travelling
that such variations of expression are
found. If the visitor takes a walk in
New York City, as it is always called
TO distinguish it from the State of that
name, he can find abundant food for
pathological musing, The pavement on
steps he has Just descended from the
''Stoop''-Obviously Dutch. like
'spOok" for ghost-the shop; he looks
into are stores" the apothecary's is
a ''drug store an Improvement on
our chemists" which is idiotic.
When he has admired the ''drug cle.k"
he can interview that marvellous pro-
duct of civilization. the "hotel clerk"
and he will find ''dry-goods clerk" at
the. haberdashec' unless he prefers to
submit his wants to the .Saleslaly'
who diSpehseS motions. He will fin'l
that an omnibus is stage" and cab
cha k" Ii he visit New York in
that most pleasant season, the autumn,
he VIII find that the fall trade is .sin
full blast" and. if he asks his way he
will be informed, with infinite civility,
not that he should take sach and such
u turning, but 90 so many "blocks,"
when he will tiud s'Twentv-thiri'' or
"Forty-second," the word street"
being always omitted. If he has been
to ..Mall or ..Rrnal'' he will not 90