The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-07
SLANG oFFEMININE LIPS.
A Conversational spice to Which the
World no Longer Objects.
Ern1l The Lon dntl Talenrnrh

From the London Telegraph
We fear that on the general question of
the employment of slang the one defiant
young lady Of Newman, who is reported
to have said that she habitually spoke it
and heard many others do the same, will
| find many sympathizers The time for pro-
test In this matter seems to have gone by
except, of course. in the Utopia by the side
| OF the Cam-and the amused listener to
! FEMININE conversation will find many Op-
portunities of adding TO his acquaintance
! with his mother tongue. The word
awful" has long since, like the word
| gentleman, been soiled with all ignoble
use, and 1t may be doubted whether a sin
gle vestige Of its original meaning remains
IN the current collOquislsms Of the day.
! The necessity for superlatives appears to be
| always present TO the emotional sex; IL they
wish to describe a happily-spent afternoon
! they rarely fall short of such significant
| adyerbs as wildly" or "crazlly," or crap
turously," whereby to qualify their enjoy
ment, just as the resources OF English are
obviously inadequate to express the
beauties OF a dress-"garmenp we believe
is the proper term-which is quite too per-
tect." No doubt. even a studious young
lady, when she goes to the halls Of Oxford
or the colleges Of Cambridge, carries some
or these marks of original fratlty with her;
and, though she may not, like her emphatic
sister in Chicago, "be just dizzy up
on education" she probably interlards
her conversation with some gems that are
not TO be found in Lindley Murray or John
sons dictionary. Some years ago it was
found necessary to draw up a few simple
rules for undergraduates as TO their proper
behavior while undergoing examination,
and we believe an Oxford professor devoted
himself TO the arduous task Of compilation,
The time perhaps has not vet come for some
similar for ba nP
young ladies; yet even now few obvious
suggestions might be found to be not out of
place 1t would be unwise, for instance,
for any girl student when face TO face with
an unsympathetic examiner to remark:
ASK me another" when baffled by some re-
condite question; nor do we think that it
would be quite judicious for her to say that
she took tea" with her judges or had
them on toast" when the ordeal
of viva voce was over. Perhaps
too, the expression THAT takes the
cake" is only strictly applicable to
some bon-mot round the afternoon tea Ia
BILE, and should not be casually employed as
expressive of only ordinary wonder or sur
prise. There are, no doubt, certain phrases
which are found highly appropriate in the
mouth of fair American heiress, but are
not quite suited for general use by those
who do not enjoy her advantages. II girl
has not Inherited fortune made in pork or
TO say that ma would be scared stiff, J." or
Pa" rendered "baldheaded right offn by
some act of unusual extravaganza or petu-
lance. Nor can we recommend as genial
fashion of putting a visitor at his ease the
invitation to some embarrassed Adonis in
The drawiug-room ito find a seat upon the
floor and let his legs hang over"
or course it is only while ladies are yet
undergoing their education, and area still,
so TO speak, in statu pupillary, that we
should venture TO suggest these restrictions
on the entire freedom which they rightfully
claim in language as in other matters. In
due course they will attain years Of discre-
ton. and then there will be a practically
unbounded field whence they may garner
for themselves the fine flowers OF elegant
and expressive talk. Slang is as some one
remarked, only grammar in the making
an 0phorism which suggests all sorts Of
awful posi- bilities in the grammar of the
future. When our young ladies come TO
the metropolis they will be able to take
every advantage OF the facils colloQuiaHsms
which on all hands are offered for their az
oeptance. Although q judge may nos
know the meaning OF "oof," the youngest
OF young ladies who are 'outn will be able
to pot his absurd ignorance TO shame-as IL
natural to one who has sat at the feet Of
modern literary Gamaliels and drank deep
at the wells Of contemporary Bohemi nnism.
II she be fortunate she may be taken as an
exceptional treat to hear the most popular
music-haIl artistes invited for the nonce by
some sociable and fashionable club. 1t will
be no fault Of hers if after such an expert
ence she fails TO see the fun of "winking the
other eye" or does not appreciate the ex-
quisite waggery OF the chorus with the
inspiring refrain OF "Ta-ra-ra Boom
decay" We may presume, OF course,
that she already knows the humors
| Of a costermonger's patter song and
understands the delicate irony of twin
ming an honest brown" Such delights as
these, however, ought not to burst all at
once on the unprepared mind; there must be
| a novitiate during which the debutante
must be content to listen with proper awe
| to the chaste conversation Of her brother
or, for the matter of that, her elder sister
or cousin or aunt. We are only pleading
that the delicacy of metropolitan slang,
wish all its fine mastery OF nervous and
idiomatic phraseology, should be reserved
to the time Of maturity and that the full
resonance of its melodious jargon should
not be allowed TO fall on an unframed ear.
| We thoroughly sympathize with the stu
| ~ NJ In tO