Iuka reporter., 1889-10-31
ORIGIN OF SLANG.
HOW SOME POPULAR PHRASES
CAME INTO BEING.

SNmL EOE " LAR PHRASES
CAME INTO BEING.
Fat EXPRESSIONS Which Found Favor
and Still Stick-When "Chest-
NUTS" " BOOM" Too Thin },
Daisy" and Other Words Started.
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 to-day becomes the elegant language
OF tomorrow. 1t is interesting to note
how many of the commonest words and
even phrases which were once regarded
Is 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 persons
and events in affairs of the world. This
makes the history of a word often as
interesting and as valuable as that of
individuals.
"Dun is 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
nlng OF this century it was unknown as
verb. About that time constable in
England named John Dun became cele-
brated as a first class collector of bad
accounts. When others would fail to
collect 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 ac-
counts when they could not collect them.
1t soon passed into current phrase that
when 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, ssYou will
have to Dun so-and-so if you wish to
collect your money!"
Until the nomination of Franklin
Pierce for the Presidency the word 'sout-
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:
Les, Mr; Cnalrman; but the commit
ts re Is unable 70 get inside on account OF
Ine crowd :, III ana pressure OF these out
sloers' Inc newspaper reporters, ever
.1auy " appreciate o good word or
P.rase, LOOK up the word ana used 1t.
once tnen IL has been common word,
ana we could not do without it.
Boon, IN It's new sense OF meaning o
popular clamor for q man, or for any
queseion OF movement, is recent word
CCoeing nfst used as such IN 1850.
Grant y, was belng run Tor third term.
Ihls brought out o bitter opposition,
even among Republicans. One paper
SAID The movement was like a boom
across swollen stream, taking IN all
that was worth having. A st. Louis
paper took 1t up, and said the third term
was properly called boom,
as it raked in everything on the top Of
the muddy stream Of politics, mostly
trasn and scum. This gave new mean
ing 10 the word. Since then it has been
IN common use as such.
I, 'Chestnuts. In reference to repeat
ing stories which are old, is a new word,
and not much can be said in its favor,
except that, being word that is not in
elegant. 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 q joke to be-
come Stale and fiat quickly and the |
chestnut to become wormy in few T
days, applied the word ''chestnuts' to I
. joke when repeated too often and
paimed off as new on company which
had heard 1T 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 travelling on train, and trying to
beguile the weary hours by reading and
telling stories, bought lot Of chestnuts
1t station to help pass the time. A
member OF the company proposed that
they tel stories, and that whoever told
, story that had been tod recently
should be pelted with chestnuts. A little
bell In the party was to be rung when
ever stale joke was perpetrated as q
signal that all were to fling : chestnut
1T the offender. This is said to be the
origin both of the phrase and Of the
chestnut bell craze which ragged over the
5ntlro country four years ago.