The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-01-16
SLANG OF THE CIRCUS MAN.

~ ~
SLANG OF THE CIRCUS MAN.
Jargon Which j. Unintellisible to All but
the Travelling Snowman.
The circus folk not only have a
slang of their own, but as they are
masters IN the general slang of the
day they talk jargon which would
be simply unintelligible to the un-
initiated. They are in a line of bust
ness to catch every can't phrase CO.
ing, and any now word which is only;
a local invention. To a circus man
the manager or the head of any en-,
terprise Is always "the main guy"
while those in subordinated posi-;
tions are simply guys" The tents
are tops to tho circus mon, and
they arc subdivided into the "biy
top" the animal top" the t,".kid
top" the candy top" and SO on in.
definitely. The side show, where the
Circassian girls, fat women and
other curiositios termed freaks"
are shown, is termed the kid show"
and the man with the persuasive
voice who seeks to entice people into
tho "kid show" is known as a "bark-
er."
Tho men who sell peanuts, rcd
lemonade, palm leaf fans, animal and,
song books and concert tickets ara
known under the general term. of
butchers, while that class of cir.
Gus followers whose methods ara
outside tbs pale of the law, such al
pickpockets, gamblers and short.
change mon, are either Crooks" or
"graftors, " To get q persons money
without giving them any equivalent
is to turn them" A countryman is
either a "Rubo' (Reuben) or JAS
per-" ~ i,
Thus If a countryman went into =.
sideshow and was robbed of $40
there n circus man would say, 1.-THE
Rube went against the CRATER in tho,
kid topand got turned for 10 cases"
From the combination of the warn
ing cry of Hey" and the wortl
"Rubo" comes the circus mans raj.
lying cry e Hey, Rube!' which is
always sounded in times when q
fight with outsiders is imminent.
The cry of Hey, Rube!'. has been
in use among circus mon for half a
century OF more, and in the old days
it was often followed by bloodshed
and even loss Of life. Fights between
circus men and outsiders nre CON-.
paratively rare today, however, and
serious trouble seldom occurs, ex-
cept in sparsely settled regions Of
the south aud west.
Tho musicians with a circus are
known as wind TANNERS" the can,
vas men and other laborcrs are ira.
zorbacks," while man who drinks,
to excess Is either 'lusher" or q
"boozcr. These Inst two express
sions are not confined to circus men,.
but have been used largely and more,
commonly by them than by any,
other class. The distance from one
town to another is always known as
a Jump" and travelling lis, JUMP:
ing" A circus that travels overland
is known as "a rod wagon show" in
contradistinction to a show that
travels by rail.
The show ground is always called.
the ''lot, and the dining tent. where
most of the circus men got their
meals, is tho camp" Horses are al.
ways stock" and the horse tents,
are the stock tops" Then there arc
scores of technical terms describing
the work of the different performers.
which, while hardly to be classed az
slang in themselves, nevertheless add
to the picturesqueness of the circus
folks vocabulary. Thus among ac-
robats there are the "understander. "
the 'mitldleman' and the "top
mounter. .,........
Among the riders there are rough
riders, pad riders and bareback rid,
ers, and among the funmakers there
are "patter, or talking clowns,
singing clowns and knockabouts A.
clown used to be called "cackler"
in the. English circuses. The three
ring tents, with their great size;
have knocked the aged patter clowns,
common in the single rings in Tony
Pastors day, out of business. No.
body without voice like speaking
trumpet can be heard nowadays in
the great tent. The knockabout bust
ness has come up in consequence,
and tho dude and Reuben clown me-
ander among the audience represent
ing eccentric spectators not belong.
ing to tho show.-Worcester Amer
lean.
On Her High Horse. .,,-
A lady Was showing visitor the.
family portraits in the picture gal.
lery. "T'hat officer there in uni