Evening star., 1899-09-30
Some Call 1t the Expression Of ta-
miliarity With Life.
ALL CLASSES OF PEOPLE UTTER IT
Various Reasons Why 1t is Pre-
fered to Good Language.
SOMETIMES II Is NECESSARY


only be applied to one CUBIC lnch OF matter
would be able to deduce from it the entire
history of the universe. We will not so far
tax the imagination or belief of the reader
as to say that could similar knowledge be
applied to five minutes of the life of a bank
holiday maker at A1argate could dis
cover from it the whole history of the rise
and fall of the Roman empire, or the pre-
else date of the PRONUNCIATION of the Atha-
nasian creed; but we may at all events
affirm that the most trivial of our social
habits contain the germ of much knowledge
of human nature, with which they may
seem at first sight to have very little con-
neCtion. Among habits of this kind
markable one is the use of slang. Slang
is a kind of phraseology which is easier to
recognize than to define. 1t is, however,
easy enough to describe some of its charac-
teristics One of them is its evanescence.
Slang phrases are almost always the
phrases of brief period. Another cLarac-
teristic of much slang is that 1t originates
in some bastard technicalities-the techni-
calities of some trade, game or amusement.
A third characteristic is that, in a large
majority of cases, it consists of language
used in manner which has no chronological
justification. Thus the familiar expression
lawfully jolly" which is, we venture to
fiatter ourselves, now becoming obsolete
and the old-fashioned use of "monstrous,"
which became obsolete years ago. are eX-
dI1pleS dt once OF It's eFdneSCence ana llS
illegitimate origin. We may indeed say of
it what Homer said of Achilles-that of all
kinds of language lit is the swiftest fated
and the most miserable. OF the technical
origin of much of 1t, such expressions
to spot a thing, and to handicap man
or an enterprise, the one derived from the
billiard table and the other from the race
course, are familiar and sufficient exam
pies. All these characteristics however,
and many others that might be added to
them. are accidents of slang only, and 1t is
difficult to enumerate them fully. But.
though it is difficult to do justice to it's ac-
cidents. it is easy to describe its essence.
What Slang Embodfes.
The essence of slang is that it embodfes
the instinct of familiarity precisely in the
same way as does nickname when applied
to a person. and the familiarity which ex-
presses itself In slang, just like that which
expresses itself in nicknames. is of various
kinds, and the kinds in both cases SINH
lar. A given person may be called by
nickname for any one out of three reasons
Those who call him by such name may
do so because they have a specially inti-
mate friendship for him. or else they may
do so because they desire the reputation of
such friendship; or, again, they may do
so because, though they have no special re-
gard for him, it is impossible for them to
be at their ease without being free and
easy. Thus the old and intimate friends
of some man of distinguished status may
express their friendship for him by calling
him Bob to his face. Others who desire
to convey the impression that they are in
innate with him may endeavor to do so by
calling him Bob behind his back while
the shop boy. if he is merely on speaking
terms with another who has reddish hair
Will rarely address him by any other name
than Ginger, not because he is intimate
with him, or because he desires to be
thought So. but because for him acduaint-
anceshp. unless ii be avowedly unfriendly
must either exist familiarity or it can
not exist at all. If he does not scowl at a
man, or ignore man, ii Is necessary that
he should slap him on the back. So in the
same way slang is inStinctively reSorted to
by many people to describe the appia ances
or incidents of some pursuit with which
they are really intimate, whether it be
yachting, racing, hunting. shooting or
stockbroking. Slang. however when its ap-
plcation is thus confined is not so much
slang as kind of technical language diff
1ering only from the cabalistic symbols of
Chemistry in the fact that, unlike them it
expresses some affection for what it de-
notes Slang properly called is a kind
OF peculiar language which is not applied
TO peculiar things, but to ordinary For
instance II the workmen at the mint had
LOT techIhcaI reasons. set of special terms
Tor the various coins produced by them. the
professional use of these could hardly be
called slang; but when a schoolboy calls a
shiiiihs bob. and when a costermonser
cans sovereign monarch" we have
.-P'Ni1ii'IS " SidHS OF a very inIubita bla
KIND Slang. then, is the expression not of
some private. some special, some technical
familiarity with any particular pursuit 1t
Is the expression OF some familiarity or free
aIio easlness. genuine or affected. with life
II represents some endeavor to pat life on
the back, to dig it in the ribs to assume
Win regard to it some privileged position
or caress 1t gracefully or otherwise as the
~ e,se may De or TO lounge in chair with
exaggerated ease when confronting II
Not Confined to Any Class.
Now slang, when used by the lower orr
ders of society. is a form of expression tho
use OF which is perfectly natural and intel
hglbie: for one of the chief points which
distinguishes ill-bred persons from we'll
bred is the fact that with the former all
intimacy is familiarity. The 'Arrv of tho
world calls sovereign monarch and
cans trousers ''trotter cases. for the same
reason that prompts him to call red
Hedued acquaintance Ginger" He has NO
Instructive sense of social dignity in b;ro
seif-no sense of the sullying nature of too
close and boisterous contact; and dignity
wien ne sees II in others. means for him
merely hostile distance. an awe which
makes him awkward or a restraint which
gals him.
slang however, as We are sufficiently
Well aware, is by no means confined to the
ruder ard the humber classes 1t is mur-
INJURED in Mayfair as well as shouted In
Whitechapel 1t is largely used in fact
personal dignity is the strongest and which
Is supp seq to possess. and ON the whole
ooes possess. more finished manners than
any otfer. What is the exclamation Of
slang when used by such a class as this ,
Some severe critics who, we need hardly
say. DO not belong to it, solace themselves
Dy accusing this class of vulgarity Rut
though sections of 1t are vulgar In a GER
tain sense, their vulgarity is not that Of
excessive personal familiarity; nor do they
require In order to put themselves at ease
with life. to adopt the attitude or attitudes
pr what we may call the mental larrikin
The use OF slang by such persons results
from subtler notifications of the mind It
results sometimes from an impulse to
caress, TO fondle, to patronize life and its
resources as may be seen by the manner
IN which 1t rs used, and, indeed manufac-
tured by certain ladies. One lady for ex-
ample. who rules over many followers has.
with genius which recalls that of Catul-
ius. rechristened a dinner party by the eu-
phonious diminutive of dimpy" a tea
party by that of "teapy" ball gown by
that OF a "ballerino!" Slang like this bears
the same relation TO that of the streets
that woman's fingertps laid delicately
on a mans arm bears to street boy 3
palm applied violently to another street
boys back. 1t has, moreover. this exquis-
lite charm: 1t constitutes. while in its yir-
frtS inI nf,