The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1894-09-28
THESLANG OFLONDON
ITS RAVMINc FEATURE, WHICH IS
PECULIAR TO ENGLAND.

Say aDalsles- For boots. and Y6u VIII Havs
Made Good start, but That is Not All
OIL by Amy AEeans--A Dissertation on an
Unknown Science.
By way Of introducing the subject let
me premise that there is certain school
of thinkers--dwellers for tho most part
in very unfashionable districts Of Lon
don--who hold that policeman in plain
clothes, dress be ever so plainly, may
salways 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
tiee not long ago in Oxford street-not
the Oxford street of west enders and
De Quincy, but Oxford street .'out
Stepney way" happened to be rather
stoutly shod, and wear spectaeles,
which are, suppose, often assumed for
the purpose Of disguise, and as passed
by q group Of i'll favored loiterers at a
street corner / distinctly heard one Of
them remark to another; 'Ere's tee.
Dyer dick lis goggles and is blanky
daisies?'
/ walked quickly away, but the words
remained in 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 abbrevi
alton for detective. " Much might be
written about "dick" It is pure Ro-
many, connected. Us every student of
that attractive language knows, with
stance 'dekhno," meaning Ito see "
But "daisies" s"-being the slang term
and, as shall show, the rhyming slang
term for iboots" lis good specimen OF
most singular pcrversion 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, TO London. The French
language, so rich in slang, does not ad-
nit 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 reeollect any instance Of
its appearance in 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 in substituting for 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 rhyming slang equivalents for
certain words, and, although no doubt
new rhymes are always being intro |
duced ON trial, yet when one has become
recognized as belonging to the dialect
IL can never be dislodged. For instance,
the rhyminR slang for "a pocket" 10
"skyrocket, f" and neither docket" nor |
"socket" would be tolerated. The eyes |
are "mince pies;'' the ear and the nose
are, oddly enough, tho 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
in connection with n very different sub
ject, ITO the eyes Of no diver amid the
wrecks Of time will that curious tails
man CLEAN. Who was "Charlie Pres |
colt, " whose name is immortalized az
a synonym for "waisteoat?" And why |
should coat and trousers be concealed
under such circumstances IS I'm
afioat" and "round the 'ouses2"
Other examples OF what l have called
the simple form OF rhyminR slang are
G1a.& ond ,,,o.,paig fhausal staiaphautia ]
trunk" drunk, "bull and COW" (row). |
and 'I'm so frisky' whisky. But II !
am asked how daisies" can be the
rhymjng slang for boots" answer
that we have here an example Of tho
second or complex form OF the jargon,
which finds its highest development in
the mouths Of experts. Haying got your
rhyme--say, "glfyrocketY 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 tho same way no master Of the
language would ever give brandy or gin
their primitive names, Jack the dam
dy'' or Brian O'Lynn." The one is
always referred TO Rs "Jaek, the other
as "Brian. 4" II will be seen that words
treated in this way must have tend
eney, Ia constant use, to lose sight, as
II were, Of their original forms and to
become merged ia tho great mass Of or
binary prosaic slang. For instance, in
act 1, scene /, of '"The Cotton King
some one says that somebody has n
streak Of black across the chiyyy,N An
Adelphi audience knows, OF course, that
achiVyy" means "faee, = but the earlier |
form Of the word, "cheyy chase,p be.
ing now rarely II ever used, the Fhym-
ing original Is probably known " low |
playgoers, and the word "chiyyy" il
thus in danger Of being left with no
more poetry about II than is attached 70
such terms as ''coHkP on "bok0,p the |
ordinary Slang for nose.
We hear Q great deal about tho way
in which slang has Invaded our conver-
sation and our literaturei but, in spite
81 The recent popula1ization 81 tho COS
Ter, ] doubt II much rhymipg slang Is |
beard "a west end drawing sooms
Aud have only como across one exam
ple Of It's employment, except occasional
u IL music hall song = what might
Be called q literely FORM. There u Q
poem which begipc shgs and readers
who hayo followed me so fnr will end |
no di9iculty ia iranelatins III
/ was attsug one nskfl q lie Anna Maria,
WAgnting iiiy llates of meat.
AFh0n there caule q knock az the Rory q Moore
Whiah maac my raspberry best.
Ih5e opdlpNE MeReS q1a WISH tct
moxe, but } an sorry to fey that can
only raoolleot tho fgsi ssaaza, --Pell
Asll Budget