Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-09
How Chestuuts Came Into Being.

''Chestnuts," !" in reference to repeating stories
which are old, is a new word, and not much can
be said IN its favor, except that, being word
that is not lnelegant either in sound or origin,
and expressing SO much in two syllables, it has
] probably come to stay with us. Its origin is
not positively known, and only two probable
| sources are given. One is that some shrewd
wit. seeing an analogy between the propensity
of joke to become stale and fiat quickly and
the chestnut to become wormy in few days,
applied the word 'chestnuts' to joke when
repeated too often and palmed off as new on a
company which had heard it SO frequently as
to become bored. This may be its origin, but
am inclined TO attribute it to the other alleged
source. to wit: That . theatrical party, travel
ing on train. and trying to beguile the weary
hours by reading and telling stories, bought a
lot OF chestnuts at a station to help pass the
time. A member of the company proposed that
they tell stories, and that whoever told a story
which had been told recently should be pelted
with chestnuts. A little bell in the party was
to be rung whenever stale joke was perpe-
traIed as signal that all were TO fling a chest
nut at the offender. This is said to be the
origin both of the phrase ana of the chestnut
bell craze which ragged over this entire country
four years ago.
David CopperfieId Called a Dnisy.
.You are daisy" is considered very
slangy by those who use it unfortunately;
and, oftentimes, 1t is. But, If used in the
sense in which its inventor, If may 50
speak Of word, Charles Dickens, Intended ii.
it is good and forcible word In David Cop
perield'' it Is first used in the sense of calling
person daisy IN a way TO express admiration,
and, at the same time. to laugh at ones eredul-
ity. Steerforth says to young Copperfeld
David, my daisy, you are so innocent of the
world. Let me call you my daisy, as it is so
refreshing to find one in these corrupt days SO
innocent and unsophisticated. My dear Cop
perfeld, the daisies of the field are not fresher
than you." Hence, when conveying the idea
that person is artless and innocent amid
skeptical and scheming condition of society, to
say "You are a daisy is not slang. 1t is forci-
BILE and elegant. The same passage gave us the
other word, meaning the same thing though
sounding little harsher, fresh" We often
hear the expression, You're too fresh" This.
too, was originally meant by Dickens to mean
an lnnocentignorance of theways of the world.
l. was SO used by Steerforth in reference to
David Copperheld. But when used to mean
that person is impudent or forward; as is too
frequently the case now, it becomes slang, as
such, a meaning Is in reality senseless.
Too Thin Not Slang.
"Too thin" is a two-worded phrase heard in
all classes of society. By some it is used in
vulgar sense, and is Objectionable slang; by
others it is used in the manner which gave ir to
us as good word. To say, when speaking of
al
slang, because an action can not be thin. But
to say, when person makes a statement which
is calculated to mislead, ''oh, that too thin,"
is not slang. 1t was given currency by the
Hon. Alexander ii. Stephens. of Georgia in
the United States Congress in 1870 Some
member had made reply to Mr.. Stephens, and
the latter had his chair wheeled out in the
aisle and said in ths shI piping which
gentleman's arguments are gratuitous asser-
tons made up Of whole cloth. Ana cloth, sir,
so gauzy and thin that it will not hold water
1t is entirely too thin, sir.
Sx+
Seeking Brother Jonutha Aid.
Brother Jonathan" as a name for the United
States, is much older than this, and was given
by Washington himself, though that individual
had NO idea Of making a slang phrase for a
name to his country at the time Jonathan
Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut, FURNISHED
the struggling colonial army with funds and
supplies on many an occasion. One time tie
army was in sore distress and a consultation
was held. In the midst of it some one won
swered: We'll, Wen have to put it off till we
can see Brother Jonathan" as Governor Trum-
bull was called, he will help US out, guess"
his zeal and patriotism helped to save.
An Invention of Prof. Tyndall.
Thus 1t is that words are made and phrases
take on a new meaning. In this manner the
language progresses by aecretion, as it were
Such words as take new meanings from a
custom are usually from the common people;
that is. from those who are not scholarly, II is
in this way that old words drop out or take new
meanings and lose their old ones and new
words take their place. At first most of them
are slang One of the best words we have is
.agnosticism," yet its inventor. Prof. John
Tyndall, the great scientist says that when he
used it he had no idea it would be used AGAIN.
or that he would be understood in using It. He
could find no other, he says, to convey an idea
of his religious bellet IN answer to some church
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