The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1892-04-29
CAB AND CHAT.
MAKING UP CONVERSATION.

The three words, ''gab," "chai"
and conversation" writes A.
Oakley Hall in The Home Journal,
seem to classify all the small aud
great talk OF The Engli>h speaking
world. The last ramed word is
he most ancient and from the
Latin word converSaiio. It's use
by Roman authors shows that they
meant by ii "easy talk" as op'
posed to any formal conference.
Cab is next oldest; for II is de-
rived from the Saxon "gabbsn,"
and i, is IA wCrd 10 be found III
Chaucer. The Italians have a
similarly sounding word in CAB,
bare-to talk loosely, A portion
of that word-as 'gab'-wOuld
seem 10 indicate reference to a
looseness. for their gabardian is a
loose garment.
Chat WAS derived by DR.. Sam
Johnson-in his dictionary, which
he did not dedicate to that awful
old hypocrite, Chesterlield-irom
achat, purchase. Because
said that delightful ponderosi,y-
in whose pew, still preserved and
marked in st. Clement Danes
church, once delightfully."- slept on
IL foggy Sunday-''when there was
4 purchasing in olden times there
was IA cheapening, and the bar
gaining naturally produced a
prate; and hence chat" Never.
lAeless, the. doctor leit it to Web.
sler to make chat Il noun, and
only used lie word as verb. Tie
Connecticut Noah. however, with
much inconsistency, after pro.
nouncing The verb obsolete. in.
serls as photographer a parliciple
chatting. Aud he also gives A
stamp of approval 10 the juvenile
noun of "chatler box" and coins
the adjective of "chatly." How
ever, while chat in Bpswellian
era meant rather idle or common
place talk or "jabber'--anothe Ter
Webs erian penny piece etymol,
ogy-the word has come to possess
a pleasanter meaning; and as the
talk of a chit has made the com.
pound noun of chit.chat.
! Our three degrees OF Talk might
be elasilcally classel thus: CAB as
a root, chat as comparative, and
conversation as superlalive. And
what each best meant in early
times is best learned from exam.
pies of scholastic use. a
For inst lancc, Shakespeare speaks
of "gabble like tinkers al the hour
night" Swift rhyming that word
with rabbIe-and not as Hudiblas
did with Babel ihe tower-spoke
of running 10 hear Jack Pudding
yabble." Tony Weller IN bis
time made the word famous when
he described TO Mr.. Pnkwick the
adven,urer Alfred Jingle as hay
ing "the gift of CAB very gallop-
in'"; in that che ideas came so
fast they trod on one anolhers
heels"
The lighIncss of ''chat" was EN-.
phasized by Spencer thus: "Chal.
ter Ire people in their steads,
Ylike as a monster of many
heads" Paradisiacal Milton sang,
|"The Shepherds on the lawn, Sal
simply chatting IN a rustic row.
Thus Algernon Sidney, "',is the
maybe challereih." Thus Locke,
"lhe lille chat OF a soaking club
| And tho more modern Pope and
Swift respectively in this style
,"SnyF or the fan supplies leach
pause oil chat, With singing, laugh
ing, ogling and all that; aud "the
mimic ape began his chatter"
| Ont Of 'Qonv.rsation," as Q
word, Beaumont and Fletcher
whose talent al rd.palniing N
7, Willis seems to have caught
made the verb ''canversati0ned,' ;
and poised it on he tongue ol one
Of their dramatic characters. DR.
johnson defined conversation a.
easy talk; quite sufficient lore