The San Francisco call., 1909-11-21
OUR COUSINS SLANG nt1d OURe

ALIAS WEXFORD from Lon
don and Victor Moore from
New York are here in town
with a varied line OF slang.
wexford is playing Mr.. Hop
&inson at the Valencia and confessed
20 me that, though he was playing
fhe role Of a cockney, he was. as
matter Of fact. from Aberdeen, Scot
sand. and thus not a cockney at all
Victor Moore. on the other hand. can
not speak slang of the stage and is
no more like kid" Burns. the hero
or THE Talk Of New York" than I
en-. who never yet placed a bet on a
horserace. CHATS not boast, but an
admission.)
Victor Moore gives George NJ. Cohan
ell the credit for his success, and
wexford assigns his achievements to
the goddess Of luck. Both are the
souls OF modesty, but Wexford is
funnier even of the stage than he is,
On; while Victor Moore is tremendous
ly serious. He didn't even smile dur
ing the interview, save once, when,
prompted by a press agents sugges-
iion, asked him If he were fond of
hunting. Then his countenance was
wreathed in smiles, just as a hunting
box on the marshes is hung with duck
alluring green. He said that he was
the original hunter. He didn't brag
about his ability to bag ducks on the
wing, but submitted himself as a can
didate for canvasback honors any old
time that the birds are winging south
AWE viii talk about slang first, be-
NJ cause that is the vernacular of
the shows at the Valencia and
Van Ness, whose bright and particular
stars we are interviewing this week.
America wins in this case as she did
al Bunker hill. The slang of this
country, as enunciated by George NJ.
Cohan. and as spoken by his chosen
star, Victor Moore, beats the idiom Of
England easily. American slang is
metaphor. London slang is artifciaIIy
contrived and based on rhyme. 1 have
this personally from the two exponents
Of the art Victor Moore and Dallas
Wexford
The reason why" says wexford
Americans do not understand London
slang is because il rs built I'D as Ia
boriously as my charades in this Eng
lish farce. Not TO be inelegant, but TO
give you a good illustration of the
significance Of London slang, I'll cite
this sample: We want to saw that
something is very bad; that player
IS impossible, and the suggestion of
the smile arises from the sense of
smell pen and ink suggests the
needed comparison. Ink rhyming with
the word sought for, but impolite. So
We cut the ink and refer back to the
word pen, and say he was an awful
pen Another variety OF slang which
IS much in vogue in London is to pro-
aOunce a word as though ii were
spelled backward. A glass of beer
Fould thus become a Stag fo reeb'
and a piece of cheese would sound like
'eseehe-' American slang is much more
picturesque. 1 think and is developed
out Of the imagination of the unlet-
tered. They are hidden poets, these
fellows who invent slang. They have
the gift of imagination and they en-
rich the language of a race by observ-
ing similsrities in objects not ordinar-
ily associated in thought New
Yorker or a San Franciscan would say.
when somewhat disturbed over a bit
OF news: Wouldn't that bump you or
wouldn't that jolt you We would
say: Wouldn't that worry you That
line is in the play. Mr.. Hopkinson'
Now the word bump or the word jolt
suggests something. 1t indicates con-
Hict, metaphorically it inspires the no
tion Of a sudden change of direction
such as might be evolved If that pro-
verbal invincible force encountered i'm
movable matter. There is a world OF
suggestion in that. but not in wouldn't
that worry you. I have figured it out
why Americans refer TO a certain con-
coction as a high ball We call it
whisky and soda There's no imagina-
ton in that, but high ball. that's a
term instinct with thought. bali or
a slug or shot is your way OF re-
ferring to an undiluted beverage in
small glass. A high BALI thus becomes
. comprehensive. for it's the same thing
only higher.
arll never forget when I first came to
New York and played Mr.. Hopkinson.'
The stage manager used to stand in
the wings and wiring his hand be-
cause many of our pet expressions, per-
fectly proper on the Thames, got a
ribald laugh from the gallery. What
did they laugh atT I'd ask OF the direc-
tor after the scene was over. Don't
YOU know he would reply. I do not
I'd say. Then he'd take me in a corner
and explain. I'm afraid the piece as