Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-06-09
LANGUAGE OF CRIME.

la N@fIJAAE OH RI
.----.-....,~,~~.-
sse AsstOs " pssss's ~ se ~s-
TERI OF LONDON.
rn,.v,s ~, e.eea,a Wsrh q. Huu~-
sxsas, = 49, 49,,
49,, go - -, 60 -
-
- M Ss
TIE langnage a criminals-the URot
II PnriA II s'paftee'' q Lmdn-has
been oarefu1ly investigated By nuner-
oas wFiteEa With wy vaEisnt zesaltA
II origin il dillcult 10 explain.
Ckiminals, NY many authua have
found it Decessafy 10 sdopt . technical
Language for their own protect1on, thAl
they nay Be- able to copvefse in public
without being understood. ''They have
been forced to do this and have made Z
language = sinister and asvils = them
selveaL |" This theory cannot b admit-
ted. Certainly tho argot IL sinister ana
vile md thoeoukhly represedhtntive 6f
the claD that uDee e. but further than
this We cannot 70.
The theory that the me of this dialect
IL q any aesistance to the criminal e
inadmissi61e. Mot policemen and an
prison ofaceu know this slang, some
times better than the thieves. 10 speak
IL In tho hearing Of detective Il 70 in
vfte arrest; to speak Il in the presence
Of the general public would arouse sus-
picim and attract attention-two thinrs
which are especially to be avoided.
Why, then, does il exist? Oh. Laurent
Of the Sante prison in Paris has given
m explanation which hes at least moth
ing to contradict It: The persons en-
gagged in every trade form species Of
dialect or technical phraseolo0y which
is spoken and understood only by them
selves Criminals. who practice a trade
as ola al any, have gradually ACQUIRED
q language more adapted to their wants.
more In keeping with their ideas and
thoughts. Miserable. heartless, engaged
in . perpetual struggle against moral
ity, law and decency, they have ac-
quired language Of debased words and
cynical metaphors, language Of abbre-
waited expressions and obscene syno-
nyms.
This dialect has mutilated the mother
tongue. II has also borrowed literally
from other languages. but without meth
% or etymology. Criminals are not
gfammarianA Neither are they lin
GUSTS, and at drst sight 1t would seem
strange that they should import words
nom other Countries We will find,
nowever, that in any prison the percent
age OF inmates Of foreign birth will be
large. In America it is about 10 pen
cent A foreign expression which seems
apt or an improvement ON the one in
present use Is rapidly diffused through
the prison. In cases where it is especial
" descriptive 1t may become permanent,
bus its life Us usually short. The argut
OF the crime class changes materially
every two or three years It IL ephem-
eral. as shifting az its users. Victor
Hugo exaggerates only slightly when he
says The argot changes more in ten
years than the language does in ten GEN.
turtles" Thus in the last three years
there have been three different terms
fr watch-''mper. % ''thimble" and
yellow and white"-each Of which
was in its turn the only one used.
Every writer ON the subject has mo-
ticed that the argot is rich in express
sions TO denote certain common actions.
This is . pecliarity shared BY all primi-
tive languages, the only difference being
in the selection Of the common acts.
Thus in Eanskrit there are nearly 100
roots which exuress the idea of killino
or wouudiup. without counting eecond.
airy derivationa Some Of these root ara
embodied in our language TODAY. In tho
dialect Of the thieves there are ne.rlv
100 EXPRESSIONS TO signify tbeft n w.
necesesrv for the nicfnochet r. descr;, =,
the various pockets IN 4 mani cloth;rs,
and a ! woman's dress The ave-.oe
man does not often need ~ snac;fv :
partioular pocket when ha TO- 10
law his hand on it 10 ess;st the ,,r,cer ~
Of bia lanDuase. The fhief b.. . 800,
rase name fcr each epn.r.ta rrct.4
ant In sn;ts of this r;cb,,es. -
onvms v,hich ;s in ;t.e,e : ,..-s.s p.
yAAsDD w ASxS&A 40 49, AscCAA q x00IAGU 6lRO