Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-19
THE NEWEST SLANG.

THE NEWEST SLANG.
Phrases Born of the Stable. the Paddock and
the Turf
From the New York Herald.
"Say, what's Tom Bowling doing now?''
"Oh, he's just doing the best he can"
"Poor fellow, he deserves better than that.
He's one of the whitest men ever knew. I'd
slip m a flyer meself If / could find him."
The speakers were clean shaver young men
on upper Broadway. Their gaudy cravats,
their crackly vanished boots and their
healthy, rosy outdoor color, together with their
vocabulary, showed plainly that they were of
that vast army who follow the horses." In
understandable words, they were men who live
by going to the races and betting on them.
Men who bet on races and don't 60 to them are
quite another class-generally poverty stricken.
These fellows were prosperous and well fed
perhaps trifie over fed.
But why did they pity a comrade who was
doing the best he could2 How could he 'de-
serve better than that?' Can any man do bet
ter than his best? was much mystifed. Later
met my friend who follows the horses and
learned new thing from him.
To do the best one can is about the newest
slang on this side of the Atlantic. 1t comes
from the stable, the paddock, the turf. We
all know that as far back as the days of good
Queen Bess the horsemen-horse racers, horse
dealers and horse stealers-had more to do
with enrichins the Qneen's English than Sir
Euphues ever had. So today we draw on the
horsemen for picturesque, perhaps 4 trifle
vulgar, additions to our vocabulary.
HOW TO DO TIE BEST YOU CAN.
When . man is doing the best he can he is
in q I'll toto Al
Goddess Fortune has melted his last dollar
Then he does the best he can by angling for
invitations to dinner by borrowing q dollar
and by sleeping in a standing position in the
lobby Of some minor hotel.
Luck turns. and presto! He no longer docs
the best he can. He ID merely doing we'll
queer thing that we'll should be better than the
best
have noticed that many smart young fell
lows OF late have taken to saying: Il gave him
an argument" when they mean to tell that
they have convinced some one with overmas-
tering logic. This, too, comes from the race
track 1t Is hard to find in ordinary speech an
exact equivalent for the phrase. The untutored
children of the turf are very meager of words.
They have way Of talking with actions that
leaves words tagging superhuous. They dis
pute, Of course, but their disputations consist
of the repetition of the same phrases again and
So; 1fo " s"o P"oihs VI oo'. AHas
.s, 1ne,t most Gohsincins eioquenee Money
ARGUMENT HAS NEW MEANING.
On the turf there is no such thing M two
ia. ~ =. a.anuant p.an"..,s, - W.
s'oes 20 an argument FrePos.erous! Eather
proposition Is "an argument or 1t isn't. II
a man tries in vain to explain broken en-
gagement or unfulfiled trust he sadly relates
his experience ftervard by saying: II tried to
give her an argument for it, but she wouldn't
have it." Perfectly simple. No coayiction-no
argument.
On the other hand, If the person be con-
WINGED, the argument howe yer weak. is an
argument.
A Brewer House young man exclaimed yes
tcrday:
Eyes, / told him Hickory Jim couldn't lose.
was over and Jim hadn't got in vet I gave him
an argument an it was all right"
VIVA you teI lmI
sor,o ",hsr ahos WEE ptorv Tr. - se sren, "
a bit sore"
m4.=Ls
Ca, e,,,,.a 80 -.
oaen nsa'es u speecn ~ 'nSso wo"io nos 20
worthy OF attention In these columns tfthsy'
were confined to racing men. But fhey arc
RAMPANT. I have heard them exhibited with
rrida hv knoviro ,ouno solIo-. IN Will ..rao,
+, no,r;onicn'. "a US, T., 800 o,rh. ,.hn"s
-. .oT'. -. .. ese In. IN soe e'1os "noso
"v M ~, neAi ousn. A L sians.
be ia tSromn smms: not ~ ma nan y; WIEN tt
ruas,,ons W.. o0 go. tu NV mean IN Tue
xrestier T way OF throwing: put simply thrown
ea;o,aa t.,ssanoa ~hsra So 49,. .. upon
1--WE! I'VE, 80 Gn.so s; y io ~
en uosoa IIoA" Ior oohneiy so
G'y.,. Tn1 H Mastar Pe''o" "'Aoo "ho'ner "