The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1906-08-11
The ENGLISHMAN'S ENGLISH
It Was Not the Kind That Was Gen
orally Understood in This
Country.


his hostess handed him an ice and a
bit of cake, you are presumed to
speak the English language in this
country: but l wasn't five minutes at
the hotel before discovered how diff
ferent is your tongue, how hard 1t was
for me to make myself understood,
even in simple matters, and I'm still
receiving revelations"
"Yes?" responded the hostess, and
her eyebrows assumed the interroga-
tive arch.
"The first dissimilarity of expressions
I encountered at the pier. | asked
porter to summon ME cab, and,
by Jove, he brought me a carriage. L
want cab,' said to the fellow on the
box Have you no cabs here? We'll,
what do you think it is?' the fellow
impudently answered, "a truck wagon? p
didn't wish to enter into any argu-
ment with the man, SO I engaged him
to drive me to the hotel. He stopped
in front of very large entrance to the
building, but it occurred to me that
this wasn't where the lifts were. Some
fellows in London had made me ac-
quainted with the fact that lifts were
extremely prevalent in America, SO
| asked the driver if it was the lift en-
trance. He looked at me as though he
were amazed for a. moment: No. said
he, at last, its the right entrance
thought would display my knowledge
of things American so told him to
drive me to the lift entrance. What
the, he started to say. but broke of
his sentence abruptly and drove down
the street few PAGES. He had halted
before what appeared to be the luggage
room. I remarked the fact, but the
fellow again became impudent. This
is the only entrance to the lift of the
right entrance know Of
II made my way ultimately to the
Office Of the establishment AS reg
istered I spoke of my experience with
| the carriage driver, but the booking
clerk seemed in some measure of
doubt himself when I mentioned the
! lift entrance. Have you no lifts here .
said I, remarking the expression
..Lifts?' answered the man, and he
looked strangely at me; then as
| though light had suddenly dawned
upon him, he leaned forward and call
ed: Front, give this gentleman lift
with his satchel.' For reasons of my
own preferred to carry my own lug
gage. oh, that's all right said the
clerk, hell lug your baggage careful
ly enough I don't yet know what he
meant.
I'm the end the boy led me to the
lifts, and was astonished to discover
| that they were called elevators. l
have been compelled to adopt many OF
your original expressions as find
| them in use, but the word elevator is
so peculiar as applied to an apparatus
which lifts you up. I became involved
in an argument this morning with a
fellow guest at the hotel over the shad-
| ing in the meaning of the word, which
! makes it wrong to use in that sense,
but he didn't seem to grasp the point
sought to make; said that he thought
| rise would, be better title than lift
il any change were made, and that
anyhow most of them were more like
boosts than anything else. I couldn't
fully understand him, but he said he'd
send it to Punch, and then I'd find the
laugh. Now, I am amazed to find you
American ladies call such functions as
this tea when no tea is served, when
ices and cakes are the refreshments.
It's all SO singular" =