The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-11-14
AMERICAN DIALECT.

AMERICAN DIALECT.
One Of the most interesting branches of
research is now being prosecuted by the
American dialect society. which was or
gained at Howard college in 1889 and now
has representatives at Yale, Cornell, Co
lumbia and Johns Hopkins universities
and various colleges through the South
and West. It's objects are the collection
and comparison of Americanisms, the in
vestigation of their deviation and sim
liar subjects. The society pays especial
attention to the expressions Of children,
particularly those used in various games,
which vary considerably in different parts
of the country. For example, the express
sion used by Cincinnati boys for coasting
on sleds. while lying on their stomachs,
is belly grinder" In Maine and Massa-
chusetts it is belly bump and belly bunt;
in Jersey City. belly whopper and belly
gutter; in the South, belly whacker; in
Missouri. belly buster. In Indiana it is
the same as in Missouri. The game known
as "ducll" in Maine is duck and drake
in Chicopee; duck on the rock in Boston
and Jersey City; duck on davy in Phila-
delphia. and duck and davy in western
Pennsylvania. In Indiana it is usually
"duck on drake" or duck on davy."
One of the discoveries of the society is
Of words that have almost passed out of
use. Examples are "fortinah"-a contrac-
tior, Of 0for ouobt 7 lrpour,'- ctiU oooo sion
ally used in Connecticut. and "fezineh"
far as 1 know''-sometimes heard in
western Massachusetts. The society
could find others of this character in the
South and West. One word that is prac-
tically extinct is ''ablsselfa," meaning a
syllable of one letter. which is contrac-
ton of "a by itself a." 1t originated in
the ancient habit of pronouncing each syl-
liable in spelling, thus ''a-by-itself-a. CO
I'm, corn, acorn" Het, for heated, was
first heard of by the society from Louis
lana, but was later heard OF from all
parts of the country. 1t formerly
very common in Indiana, but is gradually
disappearing. Another word formerly
common in Indiana. but now seldom
heard. is "stodge." meaning to muss or
mix up. Thus a dish that does not look
tidy is said to be call stodged up
"Mugwump'' was in common use in Yer
mont fifty years ago. meaning Il person
whose professions are greater than his
character, ability or resources.
A great many new words come from
various trades and professions. con the
square" comes from the masonic fra
ternity. and was probably first used in the
poem describing the beauties of the place:
Where we meet upon the level and part
upon the square"
"Chump'' comes from the printers It
meaning a block Of wood used for spac-
ing in its primary sense, and derivatively a
person whose sole function is to fill space.
1t is occasionally emphasized by adjectives
that have shade Of similar derivation,
as "a big, fat chump" Thirty" or
"thirty's in is another word of news
paper origin, but not often heard outside
of a newspaper Office. 1t means that the
matter referred to is completed. 1t orig
mated in the telegraph department in
early times, it being the custom of tele-
graph operators to write $50" on the last
sheet of matter that was to come for
the night.
An expression that appears to be Of re-
cent origin, but has spread with great
repidlty. is has right" used equiva-
lent to Ought" For example, when you
hear the statement that "a man has
right to pay for what he GETS the speaker
means that he ought to do so. This is
an example of wrong use of words that
seems peculiarly American. In fact, few
persons have any idea how common it is.
An Ann Arbor professor who understood
squirt to mean obliquity Of vision, as
in cross-eye or wall-eye. accidentally
found that his wife understood it to mean
to peer through nearly closed eyellds
He then asked 122 members Of the uni