The Yellowstone journal., 1894-10-19
THESLANG OF LONDON
lVS RHYMlNG FEATURE, WHICH IS
PECULIAR TO ENGLAND.


Unknown Science.
BY way of introducing the subject let
80 premise that there is "A certain school
of thinkers-dwellers for the most part
In very questionable districts of Lon
Asn-who hold that a policeman in plain
clothes, dress he ever SO plainly, may
always be known as such by cursory
inspection of his boots. Whether this
opinion is well founded know not, but
its existence, and also the existence OF
rhyming slang, was brought to my no
t6ce not long ago in Oxford street-nN
the Oxford street of west enders and
De Quincy, but Oxford street "out
Stepney way" happened to be rather
stoutly shod, and l wear spectacles,
which are, / suppose, often assumed for
the purpose Of disguise, and as passed
by a group of i'll favored loiterers at a
ssreet corner / distinctly heard one OF
them remark to another: i" 'Ere's tee.
Dyer dick lis goggles and lis blanky
dAisies?'
walked quickly away, but the words
pemained in my mind. The opinion they
onveyed. except as affording proof that
bh6 SPEAKER DtlOHptl W tIc eShooi Va
thipkers above alluded to, did not inter
est me so much as the words themselves
Tee is of course merely an abbrevi-
ation for detective Much might be
written about dick 4" 1t is pure Ro-
many, connected, as every student OF
that attractive language knows, with
the Sanskrit ''drish'' and the Hindoo-
soanee "dekhno" meaning ito see. "
But daisies being the slang term
and. as I.shall show, the rhyming slang
term for boots lis good specimen OF
anost singular perversion Of the English
language, which is well worth the at.
tention of any one who cares about lin
0uistic oddities.
Rhymng slang is peculiar to England
and, believe, TO London. The French
language, so rich in slang, does not ad-
nit of such treatment. 1t is Of modern
srigin, and doubt if any trace of it is
10 be found in the records, which are
fairly plentiful, of the slang of last CEN
sary. Nor do | recollect any instance Of
~ appearance III the works of Dickens,
Harrison Ainsworth or Bulwer Lytton.
Rhyming slang expressions may be
ASvided into two classes-the simple
and the complex. The simple method
consists in substituting for a word some
ether word or phrase which rhymes with
L Not that every one is free TO choose
inis own rhymes. Usage has established
certain rhyming slang equivalents for
certain words, and, although no doubt
new rhymes are always being intro
Aaced ON trial, yet when one has become
L,la 70 Ia. lfal a~
it can never be dislodged. For instance
the rhyming slang for "a pocket l.
"skyrocket, and neither 'locket" nor
Socket would be tolerated. The eyes
are "mince pies" the ear and the nose
are, oddly enough. the frosty and
ciear" and the Il suppose How, when
and why these particular rhymes were
universally adopted viii never b.
known As Professor Dowdeu remarks
in connection with very different sub
ject, ITO the eyes Of no diver amid the
wrecks Of time will that curious tails
man gleam. Who was Charlie Pres
cott, +" whose name is immortalized as
asynonym for 'waistcoat:" And why
should coat and trousers be concealed
under such circumstances as I'm
sfoat" and ''round the 'ouses:'
Other examples Of what have called
the simple form Of rhyming slang are
''cat and mouse" (house), elephant :
trunk" drunk, bull and cow (rowl.
and "Im SO frisky'' whisky. But if
am asked how daisies" can be the
rhyming slang for boots" ! answer
that we have here an example Of the
second or complex form of the iargon,
which finds its highest development in
the mOuths of experts. Having got your
rhyme-say 'skyrocket" for pocket"
you are permitted, within certain i'll
defined limits, TO make your slang
equivalent shorter and more occult by
omitting the rhyming portion. Thus
pocket becomes sky" and daisy
roots, the simple or first standard form
for boots" is contracted into ''dai-
sizes " In the same way no master Of the
Language would ever give brandy or gin
their primitive names, Jack the dan.
dy" or Brian O'Lynn." The one il
always referred to as Jack" the other
a. brian. 1t will be seen that words
treated in this way must have q tend.
eacy, in constant use, to lose sight, az
it were, Of their original forms and tc
become merged in the great mass Of or.
dinary prosaic slang. For instance, in
act 1, scene /, of ''The Cotton King
some one says that somebody has "a
streak of black across the chivvy." An
Adelphi audience knows, of course, that
.achivvy" means face. but the earlier
form of the word, "chevy chase, y be,
ing now rarely if ever used, the rhym.
ing original is probably known TO few
playgoers. and the word 'chivvy" ii
thus in danger Of being left with nc
more poetry about it than is attached to
mch terms as ''conk" or "boko, " the
ordinary slang for nose.
We hear great deal about the way
h which slang has invaded our conver.
sation and our literature; but, in spite
of the recent popularization of the cos
Ia, doubt il much rhyming slang Ii
heard in west end drawing rooms.