The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-05
ARTIE ON SLANG.
The Chicago Author
Tells Origin of
Phrases.
DOES NOT ORIGINATE IN SALOONS
1t Flourishes in Institutions
Of Higher Edu-
cation.
DOES NOT ORIGINATE IN SALOONS

Among the newer writer's whose books
are shown in the windows, George AIDE
Of Chicago holds rather UNIQUE place,
as he has come to be regarded as a
specialist on the subject of American
slang. Mr.. AIDE does not crave the honor
and hopes to live long enough to win
the favor Of the purist. who took vio-
lent exceptions to his book of "Artie, "
published three years ago ana who may
find several distinct shocks i'll that odd
little volume. Fables in SLAMS, which
has just come from the press. In both
of these books, Mr.. AIDE has gathered
up the vernacuIar OF the period, the
irreverent metaphor, the far-fetcheG
simile, and the words coined in the
street. He deals in a language which is
often spoken bue seldom written
The other daV he was asked to give
an opinion as 10 The origin Of the many
slang words and phrases Which are be-
Ing added to our vocabulary every year,
to enrich it u corrupt it, according to
the point Of view.
SLANG'S BIRTHPLACE.
Il must confess that it is difficult to
locate the birthplace of a piece of
slang" ne replied. The critics who de-
nounce slang NEST bitterly, and who
deny it any place in htera allure, usually
say that all slang has its origin in the
criminal or Stun layer of society and
then gradually works its way up, until
in the course Of a few years ii reaches
the photographer Wen, | don't believe
it. There are too many kinds of slang
The criminal element mas its own argot,
but the slang of the basement saloon
doesn't ordinarily flnd its way into the
colleges, and yet our colleges are regu-
lar hotbeds Of slang. In thief parlance
at the present time a policeman is a
bull and q mans legs are his gains,
his nose is a 'beak. or a 'conk his ribs
are his Stats, and Sc on Could you
imagine a seminary girl using any such
ugly terms? When she talks slang she
says that something or other is a lily
or a hun or the only flower on the
stem She may talk of having a mash,
or giving some one the frozen face or
-the glad hand but all such expressions
are merely playful and figurative, and
I don't see that they can be traced to
the vicious elenlent of HE large cities.
And yet the stock argument against
slang is that 1t is borrowed from the
slums.
GAMBLERS SLANG.
"Of course we can trace dozens of
slang words and expressions to the
race-track and the poker table. but
even this language borrowed from the
gamblers has its value. Is there any
good equivalent for the word bluff
And could anything be more expressive
than standing patti There are certain
words and phrases that grow into gen
eraj use because there is an actual
need of them. Now l call to mind two
valuable slang words that have come
in within the last five years. One is
kid" not in it's old application to a
small child, however, and the other is
string. When you say that a man
started in to kid you, you mean that
he pretended to be serious with you,
but that his real purpose was to make
fun of you and bring you into ridicule.
six words in the purist vocabulary that
would express the same shade Of mean
ing2 The nearest word is chaf, posi-
bly,, but chatting may not be mock-se-
rious and kidding always is. You take
the. other word. To string man
means to deceive him by a pretense of
sincerity and induce him to believe
something that isn't true. The kid
der seeks amusement only; the string
er wishes to fasten a conviction in the
mind Of his hearer Mind you, i don't
say that our writer's of English ought
to begin using string and kid but !
do say that when such words come into
our vocabulary because they express
new shades Of meaning, it is not sur
prisings that a great many people take
them up and use them freely.
SLANG THAT IS NOT SLANG.
Then again, a great deal of our So
called Slang. isn't slang at all When a
young man calls his girl a peach or a
bird he is simply following the exam
pie of the poets. He is talking figura-
lively. When you say that such and
such thing is the limit you ere not
abusing good English. l say of a man.
! can see his finish. That is absolutely
correct English, and very forceful Eng
glish, too. Another kind Of slang is
nothing more than the putting of old
words into new combinations, the re-
suit in each case being a novel and
catchy phrase that is banded about in
common talk until no writer dare use
IT, because it has become familiarized
you may say, into nothing more than
slang.
"Queerest of all is the senseless slang
phrase which holds the fancy of the
hour and then passes away. There are
numerous phrases that have come and
gone within 20 years. At present you
hear man say that he felt like thirty
cents. Can any one analy3e that into
sane expression? Yet it is amusina
and catchy. / first heard that thirty
cents comparison in 1895. Since then
it has come into general use, merely
because it's so freakish It's the same
with the current How'd you like to be
the iceman2 1t began as a song, and
1t has given rise to. a whole breed of