Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-10-05
THESLANG OFLONDON
ITS RHYmING FEATURE, WHICH IS
 PECULIAR TO ENGLAND.

By way of introducing the subject let me premise that there is a certain school of thinkers-dwellers for the most part in very unfashionable districts of Lon- don-who hold that n policeman in plain clothes dress he ever so plainly, may always be known as such by O cursory inspection of his boots. Whether this opinion Is well founded I know not, but its existence, and also the existence of rhyming slang, was brought to my mo- tice not long ago in Oxford street-not the Oxford street of west enders and De Quincey. but Oxford street "out Stepney way" happened to be rather stoutly shod, and l wear spectacles. which are l suppose, often assumed for the purpose of disguise, and as I passed by group of i'll favored loiterers at a street corner I distinctly heard one of them remark to another: 'Ere's a tee. Dyer dick is goggles and is blanky l daisies:'
 l 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 Tee" is Of course merely an abbrevi- ation for detective. Much might be written about dick" It is pure Ro- many, connected, as every student of that attractive language knows. with the Sanskrit "drish'' and the Hindoo- stance "dekhno," meaning ito sec" But "daisies''-being the slang term and, as shall show, the rhyming slang C ...E most singular perversion of the English language. which is we'll worth the at tention of any one who cares about lin 1 Euistic 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 It is of modern origin, and doubt if any trace of it is to be found in the records, which arc fairly plentiful. of the slang of last cen. tury. Nor do 1 recollect any instance of its appearance in the works of Dickens, Harrison Ainsworth or Bulwer Bytton 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 duccd on 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 arc "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 in connection with n very different sub jcct. ITO the eyes of no diver amid the wrecks of time will that curious talis 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 | afloat" and "round tho 'ouseS?''
 Other examples of what have called the simple form of rhyming slang arc "cat and mousse thouse), elephant s trunk" (drunk), bull and COW" trowl. and "I'm so frisky" (whisky). But if am asked how daisies" can be the fhyming slang for 'bOots" I answer that we have here an example of tine second or complex form of the jargon. which finds its highest development in the mouths of experts. Having got your thyme-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- sies." In the same way no master of tho language would ever give brandy or glIi their primitive names, Jack the dan; dy" or Brian O'Lynn." The one is always referred to as Jack" the other as Brian" It will be seen that words treated i'll this way must have a tend ency, ill constant use, to lose sight, as 1t were, of their original forms and to become merged in the great mass of or dinary prosaic slang. For instance. in act 1, scene 1, of ''The Cotton King some one says that somebody has "a streak of black across the chivvy" An knO"s. OI COurse. Iuak "chivvy" 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 the word "chivvy" ii thus in danger of being left with nc more poetry about it than is attached to such terms as ''conk" or "boko," the ordinary slang for nose.
 We hear a great deal about the way in which slang has invaded our oonver. sation and our literature; but. in spit< of the recent popularization of the cos ter. doubt if much rhyming slang fl heard in west end drawing roomsl And have only come across one exam pie of its employment. except occasional ly in a music hall song. in what might be called a literary form. There is ( poem which begins thus, and readeri who have followed me 60 far will find no difficulty in translating it:
 Twas sitting one night at the Anna Maria
 Warming my plates of meat,
 When there came knock at the Rory o'MooF,
 Which made my raspberry beat.
 This opening makes one wish fou more. but I am sorry to say that car only recollect the first stanza-Pal Mall Budget.