The evening times., 1899-01-28
SLANG IN ENGLAND.
The American Variety Popular In
London.
From the London Mail.

The use Of slang is spreading alarmingly
in all classes of London society. Even
at the best at homes the regrettable
practice is more noticeable than ever
Slang has one, and only one, advantage
1t often conveys TO the mind clearer and
more distinct sense of what is meant than
would more classic language.
"Highfalutn' is much in evidence
just now as slangism. 1t means putting
on being stuck up showing off, y
and such like human failings.
The vernacular is particularly rich in
slang synonyms for money" many of
which are remarkable in the appropriate
ness. In scores of ways one may speak
OF our coin, among them being the ac-
al; tin, brass" blunt" chips"
'dibs, or pieces dust" chink."
shot" ''shekles," or 'spondulics;''
stamps feather or palm oil"
which last is such an obviously applicable
word for II than ship plaster seems
feeble by comparison.
These epithets, however. are not more
curious than the technical and trade slang
which was brought to the notice of the
royal commission on labor. Among the
quaint terms, as set forth in the report Of
the evidence, are these: Bell horse :
| 'caunched, "fudd,' 'mungs," ''slopdash
| work, 'sprigger," ''tingles," and slug
ger.
| Booze has become familiar through a
| song, Come Where the Booze Is Cheaper. -
In this connection, a story, said TO be au-
| thentic. is being told:
| On the terrace beneath the windows of
| the royal apartments al Windsor Castle
the Guards Band was playing lively air.
| which immensely pleased the Queen. She
| sent a gentleman TO find out the title of
| the music. He returned with hesitancy
| trying his utmost TO avoid telling her maj
esty the name of the piece.
| He, however, was forced to report, and
| the sovereign was told that the tune was
| Come Where the Booze Is Cheaper
Universities are happy hunting grounds
| for slangisms. A student always goes up
| to the :" varsity" Little go and "smalls
| are the names given, respectively, at Cam.
| bridge and Oxford TO a students first ex-
animation. The final exam, on which de-
| grees are obtained is called greats al
| Oxford, and the great go" at Cambridge
When a man" failed at an exam he
used to say that he was ''plucked;" now,
| however, such an event is more frequent
| ly referred to as being ''ploughed" The
| greatest calamity that can befall stu
| dent is to be ''rusticated," that is sent
| down from the university for a term
| or for good.
genius for quaint metaphor and "a
| natural picturesque use of language make
| American slang humorous. Sometimes it
| is even tinged with poetry. Here are a
few American slangisms. which are be-
| coming at hcme on this side of the Allan
| tic: "Tanglefoot," which has almost the
| ring of poetry about it. as name for
ardent spirits, is happy thought The
| patient labor of the gold washes and the
| fnality of its results is very graphically
| expressed by pan out" which is also us
| ed to denote a climax. What concrete
| image is conveyed to the mind by the des-
| ignation push buggy as compared with
our meaningless equivalent .'perambuIa-
| tori"
To have a hard row to hoe" is said OF
| a person who has difficult undertaking
in hand. England has become fami lar
| lied with coon "a contra otion of ..rac.
| coon') and "a gone coon,'' the latter sig
| nifying one in such an awful fix as to
be absolutely past praying for
Its origin is said to have occurred in the
| civil war, in which spy dressed in a
| raccoon skin hid himself up tree. A sol
dier came upon him, and thinking he was
| real coon prepared to fire at him with
| his rife.
This was too much for Mr. Spy, wfc
| shouted: Don't shoot; I'll come down;
know I'm a gone COON Thereupon he
| came to earth which, as it were. sc
'fummuxed'' his would-be destroyer thai
| the latter at once made tracks from the
| scene