The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-01-30

| feminine complement, "dudine" This
may have come to us from the old En-
| glish word for clothes-"duds," in earlier
times spelled dudes" Thackery writes
of one of his characters: Her dresses
were wonderful, her bonnets marvellous
| Few women could boast such dudes"
Shakespeare, in "The Merry Wives of
Windsor" writes of a "bucke of dudes"
meaning basketful of clothes ready
for washing, Its present day literary
currency dates from February, 1876,
when the word appeared in "Putnam's
| Magazine" But famous New York
clubman, Mr.. Herman Oelrichs, claims
| the credit of first starting it as popular
term of contempt or ridicule for an over
dressed person. He claims that youth of
this type, who passed by the Union club
window with mincing step, provoked
himself and another clubman to hum to-
gether an accompaniment to the youths
walk, thus: "Du da, de, du du de-" and
that he remarked, "Good enough. Dude
| is the proper name for it," and thus the
word was born.
The words lingo" and "jingoism"
just now at the end of everybodys tongue
and pen, are also of disputed derivation.
We all know about the English music
hall song which set the word going with
| new meaning in 1877, but the original
coinage of the term by jingo!" is quite
| doubtful. In the Basque language the
word lingo means God, and it is widely
believed that "By lingo" was form of
oath. with which the, Basque sailors
familiarzed the English sailors, and,
through them, all English-speaking peo-
pie. But others believe the word is a
corruption of st. Gingoulph. 1t is one
of the oddities of popular matchmaking
| that the word "jingOism" as now used, is
complete travesty of the sentiment of
the song from which it was taken. A
lingo, either in England or America, is
| now set down as man spelling for a
fight, eager for war at any cost. But
the original music hall song. with the
lingo chorus, expressed exactly the op-
posite sentimental desire for peace. 1t
began with I'VE don't want to fight"
and its tiercest war-note was struck in
the declaration that if they had to do
what they would rather not, they had
plenty of men, ships and money.
John Bull" the mythical parsonage
supposed to represent the English peo-
pie. and now figuring largely in our edi-
torial writing and in cartoons, was the
invention of DR.. Arbuthnot, in one of his
satirical sketches ridiculing the great
Duke of Marlborough. In the opinion of
DR.. Johnson, Arbuthnot was "the first
w
Anne's time" He drew John Bull as
the typical Englishman-a stout, red
faced old farmer, far too corpulent for
comfort, choleric, but withal an honest
and well-meaning fellow. He clothed
him in leather breeches and top-boots,
put a stout oaken cudgel in his hand
and bull dog at his heels, and so set
him up for all time to serve as the repre-
sentative Englishman. He may have
hnnt nt had ~. t,,,,D -
of Queen Anne. But today certainly
there is much force in Leslie Stephens
remark that che completely hides the
Englishman of real life" The average
Englishman of 1896 is physically no
stouter certainly than, probably not so
stout as, the average American; and the
stout cudgel and the bull dog are no long
er apt symbols of the modern Britisher's
disposition. He has lost the excessive
pugnacity of his forefathers, and, as we
have lately seen, is above all anxious to
| Speaking of "Uncle Sam" and Broth
er Jonathan" whose names are being
freely used, too. in the passing interna-
tiOnal furry, there is no doubt about their
origin. When General Washington went
to Massachusetts to take command of the
Revolutionary army he found great
lack of ammunition and other supplies
He turned for aid to Gov. Jonathan
Trumbull of Connecticut, and got it, and
in many emergencies of that period he
used the phrase. 1--WE must consult
Brother Jonathan on the subject" The
expression became Nationally current,
and it stands as the American parallel
| to John Bull" Uncle Sam was not in
vented until the war of 1879. Two in
spectors of war supplies at Troy, n. Y,
were named Ebenezer and Samuel Will
| son. A workman in their employ was
marking a lot of casks received from one
Gilbert Anderson, a New York contrac-
| tor, and which were thus stamped: "E.
Al. s." A bystander asked the work
man what these marks meant, and he
replied that they probably meant EEL
bert Anderson and Uncle SAM" abiding
to Inspector Samuel Wilson, who was
locally called "Uncle Sam" Thus the
initials of the United States were trans
formed by local joke into National
sobriquet, which will doubtless last as
long as our republic.
But who first undertook to give the por-
trait of 'Uncle Sam" or Brother iona
than" as a long. lean, slab-sided. lantern
jawed individual is not known. Whoever
he was he libeled us. There is strong
reason for believing that the average
American of today is heavier in the
scales, broader between the shoulders,
deeper in the chest and of more generous
waist-girth than any of his civilized con-
Notwithstanding Sun.
IF Won want tho cboicast 1ointinc ucn