The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-10-16

W
Made Good start. but That Is Not Ar
of u by Any Means-A Dissertatio., on an
Unknown Science.
BY way of introducing the subject let
me promise that there is certain school
Of thinkers-dweller for the most part
in very unfashionable districts Of Lon.
don-who hold that policeman in plain
clothes, dress he ever so plainly, NAV
always be known as such by a 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.
ticc not long ago in Oxford streot-nct
the Oxford street Of west enders and
De Quincy, but Oxford street "out
Stepney way" happened to be rather
stoutly shod, and | wear spectacles,
which are, | suppose, often assumed for
the purpose Of disguise, and as / passed
by group of i'll favored loiterers at a
street corner ] distinctly heard one of
them remark TO another: "'Ere's tee
Dyer dick is goggles and lis blanky
daisies?"
l walked quickly away, but the words
remained i'll my mind The opinion they
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.
'Tec" is of course merely an abbroyi.
alton for detective. Much might be
written about "dick. 1t is pure Ro-
many, connected, as every student of
that attractive language knows, with
the Sanskrit "drish' and the Hindoo-
stance "dekhno," meaning "to see. "
But daisies s"-being the slang term
and, as shall show, the rhyming slang
term for boot" lis n good specimen of
most singular perversion 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, l believe, to London. The French
language, so rich in slang, does not ad
init of such treatment. 1t is of modern
origin, and doubt if any trace Of it is
to be found in the records, which are
fairly plentiful, of the slang of last cen.
tury. Nor do | recollect any instance of
its appearance i'll the works of Dickens,
Harrison Ainsworth or Bulwer Lytton.
Rhyming slang expressions may be
divided into two classes--the simple
and the complex, The simple method
consists i'll substituting for a word some
other word or phrase which rhymes with
it. Not that every one is free to choose
his own rhymes. Usage has established
certain rhyHing slang equivalents for
certain words, and, although no doubt
now rhymes are always being intro
duced Oh trial, yet when one has become
recognized as belonging to the dialect
it can never be dislodged. For instance,
the rhyming slang for "a pocket" is
'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
clear" and the II suppose. How, when
and why these particular rhymes were
universally adopted will never be
known. AS Professor Dowden remarks
i'll 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.
colt, '" whose name is immortalized as
q synonym for ''waistcoat?" And why
should coat and trousers be concealed
under such circumstances as "Tm
afioat" and 'round tho 'ouses?'
Other examples of what have called
the simple form Of rhyming slang are
"cat and mouse" (house), elephants s
trunk" drunk, "bull and COW" (row),
and I'm SO frisly" (whisky). But if
am asked how daisies" can be the
rhyming slang for boots" i answer
that we have here an example of the
second or complex form of the jargon,
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
emitting the rhyming portion. Thus
pocket" becomes 'sky" and "daisy
roots. the simple or first standard form
for boots" is contracted into "dai-
sizes. j" 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 is
always referred to as "Jack, /" the other
as Brian. 1t will be seen that words
treated in this way must have tend
ency, in constant use, to lose sight, as
it were, of their original forms and to
become merged in the great mass of or
dinary prosaic slang. For instance, in
act |, scene /, of 1.-THE Cotton King"
some one says that somebody has "a
streak of black across the chivvy." An
Adelphi audience knows, Of course, that
"chiyvy" means face, but the earlier
form of the word, 'chevy chase, be.
ing now rarely if ever used, the rhym-
ing original is probably known to few
playgoers, and tho word "chivvy" is
thus in danger of being left with no
more poetry about it than is attached to
such terms as "conk" or "boko, the
ordinary slang for nose.
We hear great deal about the way
in which slang has invaded our conver.
sation and our literature; but, in spite
of the recent popularization Of the cos
ter, doubt if much rhyming slang is
heard in west end drawing rooms
And | have only come across one exam
pie of its employment, except occasional
ly in music hall song. in what might
be called literary form. There is a
poem which begins thus, and readers
who have followed me so far will find
no difficulty in translating it;
was sitting one night at the Anna Maria,
Warming my plates Of meat,
When there came a knock at the Rory O'Moort
Which made my raspberry beat.