The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-05-31
THESLANG OF LONDON
ITS RHVMlNe FEATURE, WHICH is
PECULIAR TO ENGLAND.

Say "Daisics" For Roots, and You WIN Havt
Made a Good start. but That Is Not All
Of II by Any Means--A Dissertation on an
Unknown Science.
BY way of introducing the subject lie,
me premise that there is n certain school
Of thinkcrs-dwellcr for the most part
i'm very questionable districts Of Lon.
don-who hold that policeman in plain
clothes, dress he ever so plainly, may
always be known as such by 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.
tice not long ago in Oxford street-not
the Oxford street of west enders and
De Quincy, but Oxford street tout
Stepney way" happened to be rather
stoutly shod, and l wear spectacles,
which are. suppose, often assumed foi
the purpose Of disguise, and as passed
by group of ill favored loiterers at q
street corner l distinctly heard one of
them remark to another: " Ere's tee.
Dyer dick lis goggles and lis blanky
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 abbrovi-
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 ''-being the slang term
and, as l shall show, the rhyming slang
term for boots sis 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, 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.
fury. Nor do recollect 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 rhyIDing 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
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 81 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
ject, ITO the eyes of no diver amid thu
wrecks of time will that curious tails
man gleam." Who was Charlie Pres
colt, whose name is immortalized a!
synonym for ''waistcoat?" And why
should coat and trousers be concealed
under such circumstances as "I'n
afloat" and "round the 'ouses?"
Other examples of what have called
the simple form of rhyming slang ART
"cat and mouse" (house), elephant,
trunk" drunk, bull and COW" (row)
and I'm SO frisky" (whisky). But if
am asked how daisies can be tn,
rhyming slang for boots" l answer
that we have here an example of til,
second or complex form of the jargon
which finds its highest development il
the mouths Of experts. Having got you
rhyme-say, ''skyrocket" for pocket
you are permitted, within certain il
defined limits, to make your slam
equivalent shorter and more occult b,
emitting the rhyming portion. Thu
pocket" becomes "sky" and "dais,
roots" the simple or first standard form
for boots" is contracted into "dai
sizes. " In the same way no master of til,
language would ever give brandy or gin
their primitive names, Jack the dan
dy" or Brian O'Lynn. The one i
always referred to as "Jack," the othe
as Brian" 1t will be seen that word
treated in this way must have a tend
ency, in constant use, to lose sight, a
it were, of their origi VI forms and t
become merged in the reat mass of or
binary prosaio slang For instance, il
act /, scene /, of 1.-THE Cotton King
some one says that somebody has "a
streak of black across the ohivvy." Al
Adelphi audience knows, of course thai
"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" ID
thus in danger of being left with nc
more poetry about 1t 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 CONVEX.
sation and our literature; cut, in spite
Of the recent popularization Il the cos,
ter, / doubt If much rhyming slang IL
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 nigh,
be called literary form. There is
poem which begins thus, and reader
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'Moos
Which made my raspberry beat.
This opening makes one wish 20
more. but ! am sorry to say that car
only rsoollect the first stanzs pal
Mali Budget