Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-11-09
THESLANG OF LONDON
IT'S RHYMlNG FEATURE, WHICH is
PECULIAR TO ENGLAND.

of II by Any 1:eans-A Dissertation on AN
Unknown science.
BY way of introducing the subject let
lie premise that there is Il certain school
Of thinlcrs-dwcllers for the most part
i'm very questionable districts of Lon
don-who hold that a policeman iii plain
clothes, dress he ever 80 plainly, may
! always be known as such 10y cursory
| inspection of his boots. Whether this
opinion is we'll founded | know not, but
| It's existence, and also the existence Of
| rhyming slang, was brought To my no.
! tico not long ago in Oxford strcet-not
| the Oxford street of west enders and
/ De Quincy, but Oxford street ''out
! Stepncy way" l happened to be rather
stoutly shod, and / wear spectacles,
which are ! suppose, often assumed for
| the purpose OF disguise and as i passed
! 10y a group of i'll favored loiterers at
street corner l distinctly heard one Of
| them remark to another: 'Ere's tee.
Dyer dick is goggles and is blanky
daisies
l walked quickly away, but the words
|
conveyed, except as affording proof that
the speaker belonged to the school of
thinkers above alluded to, did not inter
est me so much as the words themselves
Tee is of course merely an abbrevi-
alton for detective. Much might DO
written about dick. " 1t is pure Ro-
many, connected, us every student OF
that attractive language knows, with
! the SanSklit "drish' and the Hindoo-
stance "dokhno, " meaning "to see. "
| But daisies '-being the slang term
and, as | shall show, the rhyming slang
term for "boots' lis good specimen Of
n most singular pcrvorsion of the English
language, which is well worth the at
tention Of any one who cares about lin.
guistic oddities.
Rhyming slang is peculiar to England
and, ! believe, 10 London. The French
language, so rich in slang, does not adj
NIT Of sdch treatment. 1t is of modern
origin, and 1 doubt if any trace of 1T Is
to be found in the records, which are
fairly plentiful, of the slang of last cen
fury. Nor do 1 recollect any instance OF
its appearance in the works Of Dickens,
! Harrison Ainsworth or Bulwer Lytton.
Rhyming slang expressions may DO
divided into two classes-the simple
and the complex. The simple method
consists in substituting for word some
other word or phrase which rhymes with
! il, Not that every one Is free TO choose
his own rhymes. Usage has established
certain rhyming slang equivalents for
certain words, and, although no doubt
now rhymes are always being intro
duced on trial, yet when one has become
recognized rs belonging TO the dialect
it can never be dislodged. For instance.
the rhyming slang for "a pocket Is
"~kyroclet - and neither docket nor
socket would he tolerated. The eyes
arc "minco )Ics, the car and the nose
are, oddly enough, the frosty and
clear" and the Il suppose. y How, when
and why these particular rhymes were
universally adopted will never be
known. As Professor Dowden remarks
in connection with a very different sub
ject, ITO the eyes of no diver amid the
wrecks of time will that curious tails
man gloam Who was Charlie Pres
colt, whose name is immortalized as
a synonym for 'waistcoat:" And why
should coat and trousers be concealed
under such circumstances as Il III
ahoat" and round the 'ouses;"
Other examples of what have called
the simple form Of rhyming slang are
"cat and mouse" (housc), elephant )
trunk" (drunll, bull and cow row,
and Pm so risky whisky. But if ]
am asked how daisies can be the
rhymiug slang for boots" | answer
that we have here an example of tine
second or complex form Of the jargon,
which finds its highest development i'll
the mouths of experts. Having got your
rhvmc-sav. ",kyrocket' for 'pockct
-rou are permitted, within certain III
defined limits. 10 make your slang
equivalent shorter and more occult by
emitting the rhyming portion Thus
pocket" becomes sky and daisy
roots, the simple or first standard form
for "boots, Is contracted into 'dai'
~ic, I'm the same way no master of the
!, language would ever give brandy or gin
their primitive names. Jack the dan
E dv on Brian q Lynn The one il
ulMtNS ltlttIttA ~ IL bdthi Alc DNiiN
n, Brian. " 1t viii b seen that words
treated in this way must have y tend
ency, in constant uSu 10 lose sight, IA
ii were, of their original forms and tc
D become merged in the great mass OF or
binary prosaio slang For instance, IN
5 act /, scene !, of "Tho Cotton King
t some one says that somebody has "a
s streak Of black across the chivvy Al
, Adclphi audience knows, of course, that
. "chivvy" means face, - but the earlier
form of the word, "chevy chase, DO
T. ing now rarely If ever used, the rhym
c ing original i, probably known TO few
c playgocrs, aud the word "chivvy" Is
{ thus in danger Of being left with nc
e more poetry about it than is attached tc
u such terms as "conk" or "boko, the
. ordinary slang for nose.
d We hear great deal about the way
: in which slang has invaded our CONVEX
Il sation and our literature; but, III spit,
: Of the recent popularization of the cos
Q ter / douht IA much rhvming slang |: