Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-01-09
YANKEEISMS s.

characteristics OF New England
Life and Speech with Some
Examples.
Clarence Deming contributes to the
Christian Union some characteristics Of
rural New England life and speech
taken from notebook Of twenty-five
years standing. When, many years
ago, ] asked rustic citizen OF the
town, after his first visit to New YORK,
his opinion of the great city, his reply
was: "Waal, l never! Why, there on
Broad way it alters seemed 8 though
meetin's just out"
The note book abounds in miscel-
laneous Yankeeisms cleaned from the
whimsical characters TO be found in
every back town OF Yankeedom.
Among the oldest OF this odd species
was Mr.. D, rugged and antique
resident OF a western Connecticut viii
lage. While driving his cows to
pasture Mr.. D used to address them
in most emphatic terms. One day,
while the animals were in uncommonly
frolicsome mood, he was overheard to
say: Eyes, scatter, will ye! Blast ye!
II there warn't but one of We ye'd scat
teri" On dark night as Erebus, Mr..
D rushed out excitedly on boys
piliering his favorite pear tree, ex-.
claiming: II see ye! / know vel
Where be ye? Who are YEP" His pro-
family was often most voluble and re-
dundantj but it never reached loftier'
climax than on an occasion when
he missed the blackboard OF his
wagon after a fve-mile drive. and,
on going back for it, found that he
had been using it as a seat. One of
his near neighbors was good old
dame, the Mrs. Malaprop OF the viii
lage, who once remarked at our dinner
table: 81 knew person who calls the
cornish OF roof the tarnish." She
was matched by one of my old Yankee
friends, now gone to his reward, who,
corrected an acquaintance reading
aloud an account OF President Lincoln's
funeral, saying that tho word "corpse"
was French, and ought to be pronounced
''core." 1t was not long before, at a.
local sword presentation during the.
civil war, that | heard one of the
orators exhort the ladies not TO forget
the soldiers In the hospital as well as
on the field. For" added he,
"there's more what is not slowed on
the field OF battle than what Is killed
by ball." At court in that village
was present when witness testified
that there was some-wheres between
'leven and twelve eggs in the basket"
Among the good Yankee stories OF the
neighborhood are the following: "Mr.
B, before driving from his farm to
town, used TO delay long delivering
xuh af ha - l1 -
vexed hired man at last broke outs:
"Mr. B, you'd be an awful bad
man to die; you'd have so many last
words that the undertaker's bill would
come in before yer was dead" One of
the oldest native characters was Mr..
b, an ardent defender OF the
doctrine OF election. One day, while
''argyfying" with a neighbor at dinuer,
he lifted a morsel of beef on his fork,
asserting: II have no more doubt,
sir, OF the doctrine OF election than
that | shall eat that meat" With the
emphasis Of his gesture the meat few
off and was instantly devoured by the
family dog.
Here are few Yankeeisms, drawn
for the most part from the same local
ity; HE buffers sausages"-i. e., lives
TOO extravagantly; Back up your
cart" for pass your plate; "Waal.
that's huckleberry too much;" HE
died of plexy;' Cant let yer have no
eggs to-day, we're settin';" II have
written receipt for my husbands
tombstone:" draw long scythe''
(sigh); These corns hurt me so most
want to walk backwards" Newark,
New Jersey. is in New York state,
isn't it?" ave had fine ball last
night! the T. Ostrich Orchestral play
ed for u.s."
Let me close with this rural telegram
which, many years ago, l was permit
ted to copy, and which i pen literally,
save the substitution OF spurious
name:
John Smith has broken his lags
bailey. All we'll"