The record-union., 1893-08-16
THE FUNCTIONS oF SLANG.
Many Expressions That VIII bc
Adopted in Our Language.


Adopted in Our Language.
In very sensible and entertaining
paper in H0peJ'S MGguzine for July,
Bfander Matthews discusses at some
length the true function of slang" and
manages to make out very good case for
number of words and expressions
winch the mere grammarian and peda-
gogde are inclined to exclude from polite
literary society. Mr.. Matthews claims
that an analysis of modern slang reveals
the fact that it is possible to divide the
words and phrases OF which it is COM
posed into four broad classes" two of
which are bad, while the two others ''are
performing an inestimable service to tine
language" In the classes deserving con
tempt he places "the survival of the
thieves Latin'" referred to by Scott in
"Redgauntiet," or. in the words Of Mr..
Matthews, the vulgar terms used by
vulgar men to describe vulgar things"
This, he says, lis the slang which the Po-
lice Court reporter knows and is fond Of
using profusely. This is the slang which
Dickens introduced to literature. This
class OF slang it is which is mainly re-
sponslble Tor the ill-repute of the word"
The classes of disreputable slang also in
clude, III his opinion, ''the ephemeral
phrases, fortultously popular for sea-
son. and then finally forgotten" Among
those he puts such phrases as There YOU
go with your eye out" which was
thought funny in London, and Where
did you get that hat?" which had consid-
cradle currency for while in this coun-
try.
or the classes of slang which he thinks
have right to existence and which serve
an important purpose, zone consists of
old and forgotten phrases or words.
which have long lain dormant and are
now struggling again to the surface. and
n "a
vigorous and expressive. but not yet
down IN the literary lexicon and still on
probation" In these two classes, CON
tinues Mr.. Matthews, 1--WE find a iustiti-
cation for the existence OF slang, FOR it is
the function of slang to be feeder of the
vocabulary. Words get threadbare and
dried up; they come to be like evaporated
fruit, juiceless and tasteless. 1t is the
duty OF slang TO provide substitutes for
LEe good words and true which are worn
out by hard service" Many of these re-
cruitS, such rs "mossbackN - ''hindsiqbt,
and stranded" as applied to a theatrical
or other venture which has gotten around
and come 10 grief, are, in his view, "wor-
my OF enrolment among the regulars.n
Mob," he recalls, was ''once thought to
be a low word, cab vulgar one and
humbug no word at ALL" 80 90 back
on" ITO give ones self away" are
phrases he regards with favor "as charac-
terlstic OF the fourth and most interest
ing class OF slang at its best" Even
such wild Western, but picturesque ex-
presslons as ''tanglefoot" whisky, don't
monkey with the buzz saw" ITO wrestle
ones hash," sand" employed in the
sense of pluck, and 'cinch,' he re-
CARDS with appreciation, while in "to
freeze to-" TO get solid with" and
Jumped on" he sees candidates which
may yet answer to their names when
dictionary PollG hn Of
English words" The word "iag'' is a
proVInclallsm meaning light load, and
the man who has jag on is in the earlier
stages of intoXication.' Whether it also
will answer to its name depends, the
writer thinks, upon the decision OF time,
which has made legitimate many words
which were formerly marked with "the
bend sinister"
AS to some of the political phrases of the
day 1t would be impossible for an his
torian to explain the ms and outs of
American politics 'who could not saw
frankly that the machine made a slate
and that the mugwumps broke it, Such
an historian must needs master the mean
ing Of laying pipe for a nomination, of
pulling wires to secure it, of taking the
stump before election and of logrOlling
after it; he must apprehend the exact re-
lation OF the boss to his henchmen and
his heelers, and he must understand who
luS hdlA-bI6eu5 were ana IDe StaIWartS,
and how the Swallow-tails were different
from the short-halrs." OF the old words
which have come TO life again, what
would seem more modern, more West
ern, even," asks Mr.. Matthews, ''than
deck for pack OF cards. than to lay out or
to lay out cold for knockdown. than to
fire out for to expel fOrcibly." Yet these
are all good old expressions. Deck is
Elizabethan, and we find in Shakespeare's
king Henry VI" that the king was
slyly fingered from the deck" 10 Law
out in its most modern sense is very
early English. And fire out is IN Shakes
peare's Hath sonnet-"Till my good angel
fire my bad one out" There are doubt
less other examples of English words,
now regarded as slang, which could trace
their origin to creditable sources. The
word hustle" for instance, seems to be
used by Scott in something of its Amer
lean sense, and the Century Dictionary
gives hustler place in its pages, al
though it marks it 'colloquial. United
States" In summing up Mr.. Matthews
admits that "a man should choose his
words at least as carefully as he does his
Clothes" but he makes the point that
when man gives his whole mind to his
dress it is generally because he has little
mind to giye."-Baltimore Sun.