River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1890-02-06
CONCERNING SLANG.
Differences Between the Argot of Paris
and the American Article.

Differences Between the Argot of Paris
and the American Article.
Some French writer's are now and then
calling attention to what they term the
argot invasion of their language. 1t APP
pears that new words and phrases of
very questionable origin are gradually
creeping into current French literature.
They are tolerated on account of their
force and clearness. The tendency of
French writers and orators just now is
to use the words that are most express
sive, regardless of their source. In many
cases the antecedents of the newcomers
are decidedly bad, but this does not pre-
vent them from getting into good COM
pany.
Partisan argot, as every body knows,
is the slang of the slums- In former
times it was the exclusive property of
the convict trusts, but it is gradually
working its way to the front and slight
sprinlSling of il may now be found in
the most aristocratic portions of the
French capital. Take, for instance, the
word mioche. Its original meaning was
''son of thief" or the child of a
convict" but just now it is employed in
the best families as a term of endear-
ment addressed to children. There are
many other kindred words getting into
common use which car be traced TO the
prisons of France.
1t is sometimes said, and perhaps with
a share of truth, that this so-called argot
invasion is the result of the poverty o.
the French language; but, be this as 1t
may, it is certainly rendering that
tongue more difficult for a foreigner.
After all, there is no good language
without its slang. and generally speak
ing, the parents of slang are vulgarity
and crime. In London, slang is the
thieves own. There the pickpockets
and their associates have a sort of Ian
guage peculiar to themselves, and from
time to time some of its words break the
lines of propriety and become merged in
the modern vocabularies of the swells
and bellies. Then the thieves abandon
them and invent new expressions to
take their places.
In this country we have no argot and
comparatively little slang, but we have
expressive words and phrases which are
now generally known as Americanisms.
and by which, after all, the English
language may become still further en-
riched. The blizzard, for instance, has
come to stav, and a more expressive
word it would be difficult to imagine.
The word bulldoze is singularly strong
term, but it is too clumsy to rise very
high or stay very long. Boycott was
first famous in ireland, but he was
raised to the dignity of verb in this
In, hn iG Ia hnrnOtf-
age. In other languages he has not yet
cast off his quotation garments or
emerged from italics, but he will get
there all the same" The mysteries of
chestnuts and rats are we'll calculated to
worry the wits of many foreign stu
dent of the language of Shakespeare. So
is the feat of walking off on ones ear
after having been completely skinned
and knocked into a cooked hat.
On the other hand, an American in
Paris might be astonished at an exhibit
tion of grief or deep concern apparently
out of all proportion with the simple an
nouncement that a certain NJ. Dubois
had just ''broken his pipe" And de-
scription of any well-to-do gentleman
walking along some boulevard with
a paillasse under his arm might lead to
the impression that there were no ex-
/ pressmen in the town.
| But weeds will grow in the best-cul-
/ tivated gardens, and slang will be
/ heard so long as men continue to build
/ cities and towns. The French cries of
( alarm in regard to argot are merely a
4 tas de blagues. In reality argot is not
| invading French, but Ere nch is annex
/ ing argot.-N. Y. Sun.