Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-02-27
RIDICULOUS FADS.
Some of the Forms Anglomania
Has Taken.



Those thorough-going, out-and-out
Americans who think that Uncle Sans
citizens ought to be Americans first,
last and all the time will probably be
set to thinking by the criticism that a
member of Actress Loie Fnller's COM
pany brought over from England last
week.
'tSome Americans" said the actor,
fare aggressively American when they
are on the other side, and pronouncedly
English when they get back home
again" The thespian who, the New
York Sun says, thinks America good
enough for any man, had been making
philosophic study of certain class
of American travellers, who are the butt
of ridicule when they get back from
European trip, namely, the Angloma-
MACS. They are beginning to congre-
gate on the promenades and in the
| hotel and theater lobbies these after
Moons, and they make themselves ludi-
| crously conspicuous by the exaggera-
tons that they introduce into the Eng
lish mannerisms of dress and idion that
they strive to copy.
They have come home with the same
old extraordinary fondness for carrying
| their arms akimbo, as if they were
| loosely hung to the shoulders by
springs. They cover their heads with
hats that are most woefully unbecoming,
carry their gloves in one hand instead
of putting them on, put on the tooth
pick shoes and display other peculiari-
| ties that have barbed the satirical PEN
ellis of the caricaturists.
These are, however, only a part of
| the disagreeable peculiarities that some
of the returning swells take delight in
foisting upon public attention. The
most striking idiosyncrasy that these.
persons have brought over is what is
claimed to be the very latest proper
| caper, don't you know" It has been
called the "basso profundo pronuncia-.
| tion," and those who have heard it de-
clare that it beats the record for.
absurdity. It consists Of the drawing
of words with the most tedious deliber-
ation, and sinking the voice very deep
| indeed. An American who heard this
extraordinary affectation sought an ex-.
PLANTATION and got it in the statement
that it was considered clever to conceal
the somewhat sharp nasal pronuncia-i
ton that many Americans pos
sess and which the Londoners
had got SO accustomed to that they
could distinguish Americans anywhere
by this style of utterance. To escape
the comments of the Englishmen these
Gotham swells divided ordinary words
into as many syllables as they possibly
could and pronounced them with a
deep and monotonously long-drawn-out
drawl. For example, the name
Charles" which is spoken sharply and
decisively by most Americans, became
a cultural ''Chaw-les." It was the
same with by Jarve," and elbow dye
daw' and hundred other common
place ordinations.
Nobody has been able to discover
why the swells do this sort of thing.
Nobody alive and in his senses talks in
that style in England, and the pro-
nunciation always caused a smile when
used in New York threaters or hotels.
Some of the slang that the dudes
have brought home to throw around to
the CONSERVATION of everybody is I'M
usually comical this year. Most of it
appears to have been picked up in the
London music halls and is of the kind
Jenny Hill introduced to American
theater goers some months ago at Tony
Pastors. They don't say baggage any
more as they used to. It is: "Look
after me luggage, that's good fellah. :"
They speak of their clothes as ''some
toys; got on the other side, me boy"
They are "a bit fuddled, don't you
know" when they have taken more
liquor than is good for them. Their
money" has become "brass" and,
worst of all, the guardians of the peace
have become "bobbies."