The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1889-05-18
OUR PROVERBS AND SLANG.

| appear 10 have COME IIOll the 1rSt
fountains of wisdom and are traced
back through many languages to
their earliest known origin. Some
come to human lips and pens no.
body knows when nor where, and
having no sign Of their beginning.
Such are by far the greater number
OF maxims in use among the people.
They each embody the totality OF
human experience and wisdom on
the subject to which they relate.
They have many forms, the correct
ness of each always being a matter
in dispute. They are everywhere in
use. In conversation the fact need
not be stated that they are borrowed,
and in writing or print they need not
be placed in quotation marks. They
are the common property of every
mind, and to use them without credit
in speech or with the pen is not
plagiarism.
AS much may be said Of slang
words and phrases as to their origin.
Where they all came from nobody
can tell. The word "dude" is with
out admitted parentage, but it has
no synonym for expressing the Pc
culiarlties of the class of people to
whom it was applied. The word
chestnut as describing a thread
bare joke, story or trick, "flled a
long felt want" but no one can tell
from whence it came. The phrase
Gin the soup has become Chest
nut" but as conveying the idea of
defeat, or failure, or collapse, it must
remain with us. The word 'boodle,"
as describing money improperly OBJ
tanned or expended, is another case
of slang in which an old idea was
clothed in a new garb And there is
a word "queer," which has been
transformed into verb, to ''queer"
which defines an unnatural change,
a misspoken name, phrase tortured
or plan defeated, and conveys a
meaning all by itself in its signifi-
canoe. The word "hoodoo,'' to
bring bad luck, is easily traced to
native negro superstitions. But few,
however, OF the words or phrases
that make up the slang of the day
have the honor of even such irregu-
lar parentage as this word possesses.
1t is to be remarked that in each
slang word or phrase hint, or mean
ing, of cynical humor is conveyed.
The humor gives intensity to the
significance of the slang word or
phrase, causing it to assume sense,
or idea that is singular, giving it
greater force and a specially in in
telligence that mere ordinary or clas-
sical language would not convey.
The word "dude" means more than
fop, or dandy, or beau, which were
earlier words to indicate a similar
variety of human character. The
phrase Sin the soup" is said to have
originated on an excursion steamer
in New York harbor, last year, when
a crowd of toughs went down the
bay" to welcome the steamer on
which John L. Sullivan was passen-
ger, returning after his tour Of Eng
land and his fencial fight with Mitch
ell. One of the toughs fell overheard
and his companion raised an alarm
by crying, mikes in de SOUP" with
an inspiration of Miltonic, or even
Homeric, genius in the rough, COM
pairing New York Bay to a soup
tureen and his unfortunate friend to
fly that had fallen into it and was
in danger of drowning in its contents.
1t is a fact that the most of the
slang OF the day has its origin with
gamblers, pugilists, other classes of
sporting men, and in minds generally
to which suggestions of disrepute or
oddity, or that which is bizarre and
grotesque naturally came. Such is
the opinion of J.. H. McVicker, the
veteran manager and dramatic
scholar, of Chicago. The phrase cit
goes" which is used to signify that
a statement or other matter is to be
understood and accept as its plain
essence requires, is abbreviation Of
the gambling phrase cit goes as it
lies" indicating that bet on a card
is to stand until it is finally disposed
of by winning or losing. The con-
genial phrase, "that's straight" has
a similar origin. And this slang, so
originating, has almost universally d
wealth and abundance, an acuteness
and poignancy of meaning that die
tionary words do not possess and
cannot convey to the mind
And now comes John L. Sullivan,
probably adding a new word to the
slang vocabulary which will become
universally popular. He has become
disgusted with the New England
metropolis. He is "down on" the
city near the harbor into which the
Revolutionary pioneers threw the
tea. In disgust he has abandoned it
to its fate. His language is: You
tell the Boston people that I've
'blowed' their town Tor good. !"
"Blowed," in this sense. means dis
owned, repudiated, abandoned. In
the same sense an unfaithful lover
may say: "Pve 'blowed' my girl"
A truant boy can say: "I've 'blowed
the school," A fugitive boodler in
Canada can say: "Tve 'blowed' the