The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1901-07-09


ti>l,wivrs' Of Billingsgate. Or. John.
son knew that it would bo idle and
useless to answer the woman in kind,
even if hc had boon willing to lower
his dignity to that extent. At tho
, samH time he did not wish to listen
to moro Of her abuse. Accordingly
! ho pointed tho finger Of scorn at her
and exclaimed in II voico Of indigna-
, tioA and contempt: "NTudam, you
, arc an lsoscolos Triangle, u paral-
! lolopipcdom, an octagonal rhom-
boid.' Tho iishwifo was totally
! overcome and was unable to answer
t|.c doctors scratching dcnunciation,
but it is not recorded that tho uso
| Of mathematical terms has ever be-
como popular in tho vocabulary of
Bi!lingsgatc
Another kind Of slang which has
merely temporary popularity is that
which cxaggerates an already slang
expression and carries it beyond
tho point Of absurdity. Two strcot
arabs, for instance, may be quarrel
ing in the gutter.
"W'wen," says the first; "you've
got wheel in yere head"
"Rnta," says tho othor. "Yere
nut is rcgler bicycle factory"
Most people know what is meant
when man III said to have "e wheel
in his head" but the bicycle factory
joke carries it point beyond perma-
nent appreciation.
The only C ass Of highly educated
people contribute to any extent to
the growth Of the language is the
college students. College slang is
SO vivid and has been so generally
adopted that dictionary has been
issued which is entirely devoted to
tho subject.
From terms originally used in col
lego games the language has adop-
ted many useful phrases. 1t is not
many years since tho first curved
ball was pitched in q baseball gamo,
anl yet the currcLt phrase 81 am
onto his curves" has Il meaning on
| trely without connection with the
! baseball diamond. From the field
sports of collcgians have come the
phrases to "jump on' man and
lump on him with both feet" Even
tho great American game Of draw
poker, which will not be claimed as q
college game, has added several com.
mon phrases to tho language. Many
q man who has never tried to "Gll
two pair" has "called bluff" or de-
clared that ho would "go it bind"
It was Il farmers boy who had
touched tho tongue to tho iron pump
handle on below. zero morning who
discovered that "to freeze to" per-
son expressed strong degree of at
tachmcnt.
Almost overy business and profess
sion has given the most picturesque
words in its particular vocabulary tc
enrich tho language. From the
stock exchange, for instance, come
"bulls" and "boars," "corner" and
"margin," though these words were
originally borrowed and given nev
meaning by the stock brokers.
From tho stage has como another
whole set Of words which aro now il
general Use. Tho words "mascot
and "hoodoo' were invented on the
stage and havo since been added t.
tho vocabulary Of the general public
Another common word which origi
mated On tho stage and passed thence
into newspaper Offices is "fake." TO
day almost everyone would know
what is moant when man is do
scribed as fakir or plan as a fake
Ths stages through which "fake'
passed before it finally became ,
component part Of the language il
lustratos the general process Though
which all slang expressions go bofor'
they find ndmittance into the dio
tionary. First "fako" was invented
to describe something tricky or in
tended to deceive. Actors "faked'
their scenery; thoy faxed" their lines
Then the expressive word was takel
up by the newspapers, and a write
who paid no attention to facts wa
denounced for writing "fakes.'
Finally tho general public got holt