The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-10-22

girl a peach or a bird he Is smp,v ,on,.
example OF the poets. He is talking osu,.sSn
When you say that such and such ,h;.-s-saVN
limit. you are not abusing good English. ~. : y
a I can see his finish That is ahsoA,..,vx
rect English and very forcibe English - -
other king OF slang Is nothing more ,nan ~. ~
ting OF old words into new combinations N. 80 g
In each case being novel and catchy phr.,. ~
il banded about in common talk until "a - -
dare use it. because 1t has become familiasisst !.
may say. into nothing more than slang ~
"Queerest of all is the senseless slans ~
which holds the fancy of the hour and ths, -
away. There are numerous phrases that hay, -
and gone within twenty years. AT present v,s -
a man say that he felt like thirty cents a..
one analy1e that into q sane expression. ~ ~
amusing and catchy. l first heard thirty ess.s
comparison In 1896. Since then IL has come fnso -
eral use, merely because ii is so freaksh n, ~
same with the current How'd You like to b H. -
man.? 1t began song and has given rise 4.
whole breed of iceman gags none Of which acuans
means anything. 1t is a repetition Of wherv n
you get that hat? and Whoa. Emma II Vim N
out in q few months and some other idiotie vus6 ].
phrase will take its place To me the study d IL
constant changes in slang and eoiioQuia talk & =,
diverting. II 1t Is worth while for a scientist /.
watch a snake shed its skin. don't see why Ir.s
worth while for man to watch people ND Is
vocabulary.
by the way. I have come upon new ni,r. ].
slang within the past two months and it has ps.rS
me- ! first heard 1t from a big newsboy Who - !.
stand on a corner A small boy with several -,
under his arm had edged up until he wac 49,
ing on the territory of the other. When the u n
saw the small one, he went at him In a threaasaas
way and said: Here. here Twenty -threef rvnfy.
three,' The small boy scowled and talked under n
breath, but he moved away. A few days after tAaf
/ saw a street beggar approach we-dresoed nan
who might have been bookmaker horssuan
and try for the usual touch This man Looked /,
the beggar in cold disgust and said: 'Aw svea,r
three / could that, the beggar didn't under
stand 1t any better than did happened to IN
a man who tries to keep on on slang and aska
the meaning OF 'Twenty-three! He said Il VA
signal to clear out. run. get away. In his opnc1k
came from the English race tracks. twenty-skrn
being the limit the number of horses allowsah
start In one race. This was his explanation. DAT
know that twenty-three Is the limit. But his th6y
was that twenty three means that there vn
longer any reason for waiting at the post 1t WA
signal to run, a synonym for the Bowery boys d
your way. Another student OF slang said tn 4
an attempt was made to rescue a Mexican sulw
zler who had been arrested there and was 70 n
taken back to his own country. Several Of -
friends planned to close In upon the officer and ~
they were passing in front Of . businos
block which had a wide corridor running through
to another block. They were to separate the odlcs
and prisoner and them when one of them shoutsd
'Twenty-three. the crowd was to scatter IN "a 4
rections and the prisoner was TO run back thEeu1A
the corridor. the chance that the ofhcef vosll
be too confused to follow the right man. Tia plaa
was tried and 1t failed but twentythree cana inte
local use meaning Get away, quick and n thu
IL spread to other cities. don't vouch for dtAn
of these explanations but do know that 1vaau
three is a part OF the sangy boys vocabalaFy'