Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1889-12-14
ORIGIN OF SOME SLANG.
INFORMATION ABOUT SOME CURIOUS
WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS.

"Dun" Comes from an English Constable
of That Name-"Outsider'' Arose at a
Political Convention-Two Stories About
the BEGINNING of "Chestnuts."
This may be called in one sense the age
Of slang But after all what is called
slang is frequently the giving OF new
meaning to old words or the invention
of new words from old roots. The slang
of today becomes the elegant language
of tomorrow. 1t is interesting to note
how many of the commonest words and
even phrases which were once regarded
as slangy and inelegant became part OF
the polite language of the times. Words,
like lives have a biography. Many
words, indeed, have histories which are
histories of important personages and
events in the affairs of the world. This
makes the history of word often as in
teresting and as valuable as that of indi-
viduals.
"Dun" is a 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 begin
ming of this century it was unknown as
verb. About that time a constable in
England named John Dun became cele-
brated as first class collector of bad &C
counts. When others would fail to col
Iect bad debt Dun would be sure to get
it out of the debtor. So well known did
this become that people from the sur
rounding country sent him their &C
counts when they could not collect them
1t soon passed into current phrase that
when a person owed money and did not
paw when asked, he would have to be
"Dunned." Hence it soon became COM
mon in such cases to say" You will have
to Dun So-and-so if you wish to collect
your money"
BOOM" IS NEW ONE.
Until the nomination of Franklin
Pierce for the presidency the word "out-
slider" was unknown. The committee
on credentials came in to make its re-
port and could not get into the hall be-
cause of the crowd Of people who were
not members of the convention. The
chairman of the convention asked if the
committee was ready to report, and the
chairman of the committee answered:
"Yes, Mr.. Chairman, but the committee
is unable to get inside on account of the
crowd and pressure of the outsiders
The newspaper reporters took up the
word and used 1t.
"Boom," in its new sense of meaning
a popular clamor for man, or for any
question or movement, is a recent word
being first used as such in 1880. Grant
was being run for third term This
brought bitter opposition. One paper
said the movement was like boom
across a swollen stream, taking in all
that was worth having. A st. Louis
paper took it up, and said the third
term movement was properly called
boom, as it raked in everything on the
top of the muddy stream of politics,
mostly trash and scum. This gave
new meaning to the word.
"Chestnuts," in reference to repeating
stories which are old, is new and not
much can be said in its favor except
that, being word that is not inelegant
either in sound or origin and expressing
so much in two syllables, it has prob
ably come to stay with us. Its origin is
not positively known and only two prob
able sources are given. One is that
some shrewd wit, seeing an analogy be-
tween the propensity of a joke to be-
come stale and fat quickly and the
chestnut to become wormy in a few
days, applied the word chestnut" 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 many are
legged source, to wit: That theatrical
party, travelling on train and trying to
beguile the weary hours by reading and
telling stories, bought lot Of chestnuts
at a station to help pass the time.
member of the company proposed that
they tell stories and that whoever told
story that had been told recently should
be pelted with chestnuts A little bell
in the party was to be rung whenever a
stale joke was perpetrated as a signal
that all were to fling a chestnut at the
offender.
FROM DICKENS.
you are daisy" is considered very
slangy by those who use it indiscrimi-
nately, and oftentimes it is. But if
used in the sense in which its inventor,
Charles Dickens, intended 1t it is good
and forcibIe. In David Copperfield" it
is first used in the sense of calling per
son daisy in a way to express admlra-
ton, and, at the same time, to laugh at
one credulity. Steerforth says to young
Copperfield: David, my daisy. you are
SO innocent of the world. Let me ceu
you my daisy, as it is so refreshing to
find one in these corrupt days SO limo
cent and unsophisticated My dear Cop
perfeld, the daisies of the field are not
fresher than you"
TOO thin" is a two worded phrase
heard in all classes of society. By some
it is used in a vulgar sense, and it is OBJ
iectionable slang; by others it is used in
the manner which gave it to us as good
word. To say, when speaking OF an &C
ton, 20, that is too thin," is vulgar
slang, because an action cannot be thin
But to say. when person makes state
ment which is calculated to mlslead,
so that is too thin," is not slang. 1t
was given currency by the Hon. Alex
ander Il. 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 that
shriu. piping voice which always COM
manded silence: 'Mr. Speaker, the gen.
tleman's arguments are gratultous as