The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-03-07
The American Type.


rent, w. A. Croffut says:
Why is it that Americans-at least,
New Yorkers-have lately fallen to
mimicking whatever is English, can
not divine. A few years ago, Anglo
phobia prevailed here, and whatever
was English was carefully, perhaps too
carefully avoided. But that tendency
passed with the last generation.
The aristocrats of New York~-those
who can live without work because their
questionable grandfathers grubbed-
ape the English aristocracy as nearly as
they can. Their youths are expected
to marry no girl unless her father can
make substantial settlement" of a
regular annuity, English fashion. Our
swell mimic wears his hat in the eleva-
tor because the English do, and he try
ing to learn to call that vehicle 'slift.
When he goes out in carriage he never
speaks of "going to ride" but of ego
iuS to drive, though as matter of
Tt he does ride, and (if he have a
coachman) does not drive.
Half of our young men in our swell
dom part their hair in the middle, wear
English clothes, initiate English man.
ners, use English slang, cultivate En-
glish infections of speech. Meet these
youths in society and you shall hear
them allude to the "nasty weather" Cor,
rather, the "nawsty weather,") the
'beastly walking" and the "deucedly
clever actor" They call their panta-
looms ftrousers," their vests, "weskuts,"
and some of them allude to the ladies'
"gowns. They are trying to be En-
glish all over.
1t is not necessary. 1t is scarcely
becoming. No American can have
travelled in England without learning
that its people are no whit superior to
ours in bearing or in speech. More
over, their feeling of complacency often
deprives them of the power of changing
for the better-that is, of learning.
The nation that does not progress ret
rogrades. England is insular and pro-
vincial. America is continental and
cosmopolitan. Englishmen seldom
change except by forgetting. Ameri
cans, during a century, have added hun
dreds of needful words to the language.
What we ought to do is, not to drop
good words because the English do not
use them, but to hold on to them, to
fill up the awkward chinks Of the COM
mon tongue.
Our language is sadly in need of new
words, to describe new things, new re-
lations, new tendencies of thought ;
and the refined slang and common
speech of the United States constitute
the chief fountain of its enrichment.
Mr.. Roswell Smith Of the Century Com
pany, tells me, and am glad to learn
it, that the new dictionary will contain
some hundreds, perhaps thousands, Of
new words, notably Americanisms and
provincialisms which, by their useful
ness, have vindicated their right.
This is an example of courage and dis
cernment as we'll as public spirit.
1t will not answer for Englishmen
to object that a new word cannot be
admitted as proper till they see fit to
adopt it. That day is gone by forever.
They are outnumbered, and have ceas
ed to be the official custodians of the
common tongue. A majority of all
English-speaking people are now on
the Western Continent in another
generation three-quarters of them will
be here; and to our progressive schol-
ars and expert philologists is allotted
the task of henceforth guarding, improv-
ing, reinforcing and fertilizing the Ian
guage till it shall make its triumphant
way around the world and become adap-
ted to the needs of all races of men.