Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-11-24
YiESLANG OF LONDON
IT'S RHYMlNG FEATURE, WHICH IS
PECULIAR TO ENGLAND.

off, by Any Mcans-A Dissertation ON an
Unknown Science.
Bvway of introducing the subject lot
,,,o rremiso that there is certain school
- thinscrs-dwcller for the most mart
in very questionable districts of Lon
dor-vho hold that policeman in plain
clothes. dress he ever so plainly, may
AWAY, be known as such by q cursory
inspection of his boots. Whether this
opinion is well founded know not, but
u. existence and also the existence of
rbyming slang, was brought to my no.
nee rot long ago in Oxford street-not
tho oxford street of west enders and
d. Quincy, but Oxford street s'out
S,cpney way" happened to be rather
,routly shod, and l wear spectacles,
which are, l suppose, often assumed for
the purpose of disguise, and rs passed
bv a group of i'll favored loiterers at a
street corner I distinctly heard ono of
them remark to another: 'Ere's o tee.
Dyer dick is goggles and is blanky
daiscs:"
walked quickly away, but the words
remained in my mind. The opinion they
conveyed, except rs 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-
a-ion for detective. Much might be
written about dick" 1t is pure Ro-
many, connected, rs every student of
that attractive language knows, with
the Sanskrit "drish'' and tho Hindoo-
stance "dckhno," meaning "to see. :"
Hut "daisios"-bcing the slang term
and as | shall show. the rhyning slang
term for "boots"-isa good specimen of
umo,t singular perversion of the English
language, which is well worth the at
tcntion of any one who cares about lin
guistic oddities.
Rhyming slang is peculiar to England
rnd, believe, 10 London. The French
language, so rich in slang, does not ad-
nit Of such treatment. 1t is of modern
,rigin. and l doubt if any trace of il is
% be found i'll the records, which are
fairly plentiful, of the slang of last CEN
fury. Nor do recollect any instance Of
II, appearance in the works of Dickens,
Harrison Ainswoyth or Bulwer Lytton.
Ehyming slang expressions may be
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
II. Not that every one is free to choose
hi> own rhymes Usage has established
certain rhyming slang equivalents for
certain words, and, although no doubt
new rhymes are always being intro
duccd on trial, yet when one has become
recognized rs belonging to the dialect
IL can never be dislodged. For instance,
tho rhyming slang for "a pocket" is
"-svr0cl,et, " and neither ''locket" nor
socket would he tolerated. The eyes
are ''mince pies" the ear and the nose
are, eddy enough, the FROSTY and
clear and the Il suppose. How, when
and why these particular rhymes were
universally adopted will never be
known. As Professor Dowden remarks
IN connection with very different sub
Jet, To tho eyes of 10 diver amid the
wrecks of time will that curious tails
man gleam." Who was "Charlie Pres.
colt, whose name is immortalized as
synonym for 'waistcoat?" And why
should coat and trousers be concealed
under such circumstances as I'm
ailuat' and round the 'ouses?''
Other examples of what have called
the simple form Of rhyming slang are
eat and mouse" (house), elephant
trunk" (drunk), bull and COW" (row).
and I'm so frisky" (whisky). But if
am asked how daisies" can be the
rhyming slang for boots l answer
that we have here an example Of tine
second or complex form of the jargon,
which finds its highest development in
tho mouths of experts. Having got your
rhyme-say, ''sl1yrocket" 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
Tor boots" is contracted into 'dai-
sizes" In the same way no master of the
language would ever give brandy or gin
thtir primitive names, Jack the dan
dy' or Brian OLynn. The one is
always referred to rs "Jack," the other
rs Brian" 1t will be seen that words
treated i'll this way must have tend.
ency, III constant use, to lose sight, rs
u We're, of their original forms and tC
become merged in the great mass of or.
binary prosaic slang. For instance, III
act |, scene I, of 1.-The Cotton King
some one says that somebody has "a
streak of black across the chivvy." An
Adolphi audience knows, Of course, that
chivvy" means "face, 4" 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
piaygoers. and tho word ''chivvy" is
thus in danger of being left with nc
more poetry about it than is attached tc
such terms as ''conk" or "boko," the
ordinary slang for nose.
We hear o great deal about the way
IN which slang has invaded our CONVEX.
sltion and our literature: but, in spite
OF the recent capitalization Of the COS
ter' doubt If much rhyming slang il