The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-03-05
BACKWOODs ENGLISH.
1t Should be Preserved-Too. Expressive
to be Lost. o-~Ss
IGreenville News. !

lGreenville News.
The New York Tribune, we believe
is, IS much delighted by Sam Jones,
description of the mayor of Palestine,
who assaulted but failed to batter him.
as Zone gallus'' Individual. "Oae
gallus' as descriptive adjective is, the
Tribune says, revelation, an inspira-
ton and a poem.
Our contemporary is right. Nobody
knows who invented zone galils1 but:
1t has lived and endured through all
the mountain regions of the South
and is used with absolute gravity as
expressing a certain kind of nal-a
shlftless, lopsided, loafing person Who
doesn't take any interest in himself.
whose wife even takes no interest .inS
him and is entirely satisfied with the.
set OF his breeches so long as they hang
10 hlm. The sailor, who is often one
of the quickest and most graceful Of
the human kind, wears no galluses at
all, bnt the gymnastics of his daily
life make him supple and thin in the
waist and solid in the hips andshis:
clothes hang on to him to the last,
even when both legs are full of salt
water. The zone gallusn is usualig--
precisely the same size all the way
down-Without form and Woodland
mas no hinge in his back bone or fexi-
olllty at the waist. When he wants
anything on the ground be gets toit By
bending his legs and sitting down for
it, like giraffe. q
The back woods are full of home
spun English which is English-ner
vous, direct and strong. The people
a few years back knew comparatively
few words but those they knew were
Saxon and were combined and applied
to be Of wonderful use and power:
Then there is an occasional invented
Word-such as "rucus." Nobody
knows where "rucus" came from or
how it got here, but when it has once
been heard we can never think of any
other word as properly describing a
general, confused, scram bling fight
with half a dozen or more combatants
which is what "rucusn means.
Then there is the verb ''to 1nix"-we
mixed, ye or you mixed, he, they or
them mixed, We have mixed, we
might, could would or should havs
mixed. 'Then them two mixed,' says
the witness on the stand, and court.
jury, attorneys and audience know on
the significance Of those four sdaasSss
that the defendant and prosecutorsiIn-
ultaneously got together with rapid
exchanges of kicks, cuffs, bites and
gouges. An entire chapter of Carlyle
could not tell more or present the scene
to the imagination more vividly.
The school master and the preacher
are invading the last strongho!ds of
home made, provincial English in this
country. The people are becoming
more prosperous, or getting more
money, rather; whether the process is 4
real prosperity is open. for discussion.
They are looking, through the news
papers and occasional excursions. into
the big, busy world beyond Their
familiar hills and mountain barriers.
They are sending their son and daueh-
ters to schools and colleges and the
strong, homely, native words, express
slons and idoms are being banisiled bv
the more correct an elegant English
Of the books and students. One secret
OF Sam Jones' success is that he sticks
TO the home dialect. 1t is pleasant and
full OF meaning to the people familiar
with it and-as the Tribune says-an
inspiration and a delight to the people
to whom it is new. When he SAYS q
tning or doctrine has been worn 10
frazzle," everybody knows what ne
IS talking about, and we would like 10
know if there is any stronger or palmer
combination of words to tell tie r1ear-
ing.
We wish before the march Of i,p-
prOvemeDt has banished haclwOoSC
English somebody would prepare a
glossary Of it for preservation. Much
Of it is entirely too good to be lost
Betsy Hamilton" who used to write
for the Atlanta Constitution kne=7
and used it more correctly than any
body else we know of who is capable Of
telling of it properly.