Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-08-30
SLANG PHRASES.
How Catch Words Originate and Fly
From City TO City.

II Is a curious fact that slang trav-
els faster than steam This is vague
~ ascribed to the telegraph and the
operators, but no one save the opera
tors seems to know how quickly catch
phrases are made to fly from city to
city. All things center in the telegraph
Offices to them go all sorts OF people
theatrical folk, "horsey" men, com
mercial travellers, men about town.
Messengers, receiving clerks and, in
smaller cities, even the operators, hear
and are quick to pickup" the latest
phrases and catch words, such as W.
lend themselves to interjection between
the messages handled on busy wire.
Telegraph offices are busy places and
those working In them must needs con-
dense their humor into the smallest
possible space or go without Il; hence,
telegraphic wit is generally confined to
crisp things that come out with a
click, and are so edged with sarcasm
as to reach hundreds Of miles to the
man at the other end Of the wire.
One somewhat vulgar word, bug
house." originated In a telegraph office
and had a surprisingly quick popular
ity. on busy morning the 1rst wlie
of telegraph company between Ney
York and Baltimore went out OF bal
ance" In other words, the delicate
currents traversing 1t encountered a
resistance great enough to cause them
TO cease intelllgibly TO actuate the null
tlplex instruments connected with II.
The wire chiefs between Baltimore ANA
New York were called in and, after
much testing, the trouble was located
In Baltimores instrument. The Bal
timore wire chief, upon close examina-
ton, found that the trouble was caused
by a cockroach, which, after tumblinS
into an inkwell, flush with the table,
crawled out and dragged It's wet body
upon the top OF the resistance box,
trying TO escape into the boxs Inter :
Tor.
The insects wet body formed a con-
nection and the current traversed IL
as readily as Il would have metal
Mug placed In the hole; therefore,
many hundred ohms too much resist.
ance was thrown across the path oil
the passing currents. Hence the re-
slstance box had bug" which Great
ed wire trouble" This information
was repeated to New York when the
wire started again. The story was told
about the metropolitan office, discussed
and commented upon, and new slang
word came into being, one just suited
to telegraphic uses. Variations were
settled upon within fifteen minutes, and
the new bit OF slang was sent flying
over the country In every direction as
the poor Wit of operators found OPP
portunlty to use IL.
Soon after | was assigned to the ST
Louis wire. / knew the man in the
Missouri city personally and we were
much given 70 joking with each other
| was ready TO pass the new word on
TO him when occasion offered. but be-
fore the opportunity came difference
of opinion rose between US over the
subject matter OF newspaper special
then passing between us. At an in
teresting point in the controversy my
distant friend calmly clicked of the
opinion that was bughouse. Where
did you get hold OF THAR | asked. lie
said: "The man on the Cincinnati wire
lust yelled 1t at me- So Baltimore had
passed the new slang to Cincinnati st
Louis got II next and probably ogden
and Ogden sent II dying to the Pacific
coast. Chicago had II from Cincinnati
and nassed il TO the northwest 81
Louis clicked II TO New Orleans and the
southwest. II could. travelling at the
rate IL maintained in the first iitteen
minutes Of it's life. have traversed the
United states and Canada within an
hour. The operators passed II TO the
clerks in each office, the clerks to The
messenger boys and the boys bore II
10 every nook and corner OF their re-
spective cities The next day the smaller
cities had the new idiom, with varig<
lions: next the small towns and rura
communities received IL; In a week II
was worn threadbare.-St Louis Re
public.