Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-09-10

DAY. SEPTEMBER 70, 188! l ORIGIN OF SLANG.
 How Some Popular Words and Phrssss | Game Into Being.
 This may be called in one sense the age of ! slang. But after all what is called slang is l frequently the giving of new meaning to l old words or the invention of new words From old roots. The slang of to-day becomes the elegant language of tomorrow. It is l interesting to note how many of the con- monest words and phrases which were once regarded as slangy and inelegant became a l part of the polite language of the times.
 words, like lives, have biography, says a
 writer in the Pittsburgh Dispatch.
 "Dun" is 8 word now whose meaning is known to every one who understands the English language. Too many wish they did
 not know it. Yet at the beginning of thls century 1t was unknown as 8 verb. About that time constable in England named John Dun became celebrated as frst-class collector of bad accounts. When others would fail to collect 8 bad debt Dun would be sure to get it out of the debtor. So we'll known did this become that people from the
 surrounding country sent him their accounts when they could not collect them. It soon passed Into 8 current phrase that when a person owed money and did not pay when asked he would have to be "Dunned." !" Hence it soon became common in such cases to say: "You will have to Dun so-and-so if you wish to collect your money"
 Until the nomination of Franklin Pierce for the Presidency tho word ''outsider" was unknown. The committee on credentials came In to make its report and could not get into the hall because of the crowd of people who were not members of the con- vention. The chairman of the convention asked if the committee was ready to report and the chairman of the committee an- swered: "Yes, Mir. Chairman; but the committee is unable to get inside on ac- count of the crowd and pressure of these l outsiders" The newspaper reporters, ever ready to appreciate good word or phrase, took up the word and used 1t. Since then 1t has been common word and we could not do without it. "Boom," in its new sense of meaning popular clamor for 8 man, or for any question or movement, is 8 recent word-being first used as such in 1880. Grant was being run for third term. This brought out bitter opposition. One paper said the movement was like boom across swollen stream, taking in all that was worth having. This gave a new mean ing to the word. Since then it has been in common use as such.
 "You are daisy" Is considered very slangy by those who use it tindiscriminately and, oftentimes, 1t Is. But if used in the | sense in which it's inventor, if I may so speak of 8 word, Charles Dickens, intended l it, 1t is g good and forcible word. In ''David Copperfeld" 1t is first used in the sense of 1 calling person 8 daisy in a way to express admiration, and, at the same time, to laugh l at one's credulity. Steerforth says to young Copperfeld: "David, my daisy, you are so | innocent of the world. Let me ell you my | daisy, as 1t is so refreshing to find one in 1 these corrupt days so innocent and unso- phisticated. My dear CopperfeId, the daisies l of the field are not fresher than you" Hence, when conveying the idea that per- | son is artless and innocent amid skeptical l and scheming condition of society, to say: "You are daisy" is not slang. It is forci- ble 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 innocent ignorance of the ways of the world. It was so used by Steerforth in reference to David Copper | field. But when used to mean that a per-
 son is impudent or forward, as is too ire l quently the case now, 1t becomes slang, as 1 such meaning is in reality senseless.
 | s'Too thin" is two-worded phrase heard
 
 in vulgar sense, and is objectionable slang;
 by others 1t is used in the manner which gave it to us as Q good word. To say, when l speaking of an action, 70, that is too thin, ;" | Is vulgar slang, because an action can not be thin. But to say, when a person makes
 8 statement which is calculated to mislead, l 70, that Is too thin," is not slang It was l given currency by Hon. Alexander Fl. Stephens, of Georgia, in the United States Hoy,sY fv, ,H>na hAl l~
 reply to Mr. Stephens, and the latter had
 his chair wheeled out in the aisle and said | in that shrill, piping voice which always | commanded silence: "Mr. Speaker, the | gentleman's arguments are gratuitous as- sertions made up of whole cloth. And cloth, | sir. so gauzy and thin that it will not hold
 water. It is entirely too thin, sir."
 "Brother Jon athan," as a name for the l 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 name to his country at tho time. Jonathan TrumbulI, Governor of Connecticut, furnished the struggling
 colonial army with funds and supplies on many an occasion. One time the army was in sore distress, and consultation was
 held. In the midst of it some one wondered
 what would be done. Washington an-
 swered: "Well, we'll have to put 1t of till l we can see brotner Jonathan," as Governor
 Trumbuu was called; Che will help us out,
 guess" And he did. and gave his name
 to the country his zeal and patriotism
 helped to save.
 Thus 1t is that words are made and phrases take on a new meaning. In this
 manner the language progresses by accre-
 tion, as 1t were. Such words as take new
 meanings from custom are usually from
 the common people; that Is, from those who
 are not scholarly. It Is in this way that old
 words drop out or take new meanings and
 lose their old ones and new words take their l place. At first most of them are slang.
 One of the best words we have Is ''agnos-
 ticism," yet its inventor-Prof. John Tyn-
 dall, the great scientist-says that when he
 used it he had no idea 1t would be used
 again, or that he would be understood in
 using 1t. He could find no other, he says, to
 convey an idea of his religious belief in an- ! A IL. . 1N- H-A