The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-05
suffer to some extent The increase In
the merit Of the performance, however,
may compensate for this disadvantage.
Capo Cod Talk.

In spite OF the schoolmarms efforts
and the all pervading summer visitor,
traces OF the racy language that grew
up from the soil may still be found, and
the American Dialect Society makes it
its business to garner the homely phrases
and picturesque words and to record the
pronunciation before they are all wiped
out by progress. It is to old people and
the middle aged that the dialect COL
lectors must turn now, for youth will
have nothing to do with the vernacular
that was good enough for its fathers,
and turns to the slang Of the cities to
embellish its vocabulary.
Conditions on Cape Cod have been
especially favorable for the raising and
preservation OF raoy and vigorous Ian
guage. Fisherman and farmer in one.
the Cape Colder could adapt the erns
Of both callings to his daily speech, and
stand up for his creations with the same
independence he showed in town meet
ing and in private life. That his dialect
WAS not peculiar to the Cape was due
to the fact that his children went out into
the world to seek their fortunes and
took with them their manner Of speech
wherever they went on land or sea, and
forced their phrases into the general
American language.
This will account for the familiarity
OF many of the words and phrases in the
aftermath Of Cape Cod dialect that
Prof. G. D. CHASE of Wesleyan Univer-
sity publishes in American Dialect Notes.
They are undoubtedly used on Cape
Cod but many are also used throughout
the country, and few, we fancy. wher-
ever English is spoken. Phrases like
shat will answer or hail fellow we'll
met. or Boost" or "the whisk Of a
lambs tall" we imagine, would not
puzzle a Britisher, while on the other
hand the Cape alone can account for
"downeaster," meaning a Maine man.
or "coasting, referring not to sled but
to sailing up and down the coast, or
hubby" relating to unevenness on
roads or ponds.
Terms OF abuse are always attractive.
We find here "ohowder head, ""gooney,
sap head, Hunk head applied to a
stupid person; fiddle ding is atrifer;
an "old rip laxative woman; 'fsh
and potato face, one who is not comely.
On the other hand. well behaved boy
was a gentleman passenger, and a
nice little girl lady Haley Some
phrases, as matter of course, are meta
phors borrowed openly from the sir
rounding sea- ITO fetch up all standing,
damned for time meaning hurried;
TO run afoul of, "up jib" meaning to
start off, and SO forth.
We can only pick out few more Wig
orous terms, some Of which are pretty
we'll known: Bale in" means putting
down food. and "skunking," leaving
nothing over; "to brustle up is to show
Indignation; Ito collar is to grab; ito
|,deacon" is to put the best apples on
ftop; hog age" is the awkward stage Of
boy; limp to quaddier - to hobble
[.afopg, and "lickety whittie" is recklessly
fast Not to save your gizzard' needs
no explanation, nor do slick as whistle .
or more than you can shake stick
at. A new comparison for pain is to
suffer like thole pin" while whether
or no anyhow" seems to sum up deter
mination.
For all these expressions Prof. DAVIS
gives the local pronunciation in the
phonetic alphabet. This we cannot re-
produce 1t is the second collection he
has made for the Dialect Society, the two
combined giving vivid picture Of the
language of interesting people. 1t is a
pity that it is safer to use the past tense
in speaking Of these terms; though some
survive generally and all will be found
somewhere by hunting for them, they
represent the language that was heard
on the Cape rather than what is now
spoken.