The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-24
TANGLED BY YANKEE SPEECH
MISTAKES BRlTISH AUTHORS
MAKE ABOUT AMERICANA.


adorn his tale with a sure enough Yankee
character has before him 4 well nigh
impossible task sAys Frank u Bicknell
In the December Outlook. He knows
| no north. no south. no east. no west;
all Americans seem 10 look and talk
alike To him.
He Ia aware that within the borders
Of his own small island may be heard
| many dialects 1.-THE cockney, the coster
! the Yorkshire. Lancashire. Dcvonnhire.
Lowland and Highland Scotch-more
varieties. indeed. Of distorted English
than one author could hope 20 reproduce
successfully. yet makes little or no
distinction in the speech Of two Americans
coming from widely separated parts
OF this much larger country.
lie IL fatuously content to have his
imitation Yankee stalk through the pages
OF his novel wearing the invariable SLOUGH
hat and goatee and guessing reckon
ing and allowing with serene disregard
OF the fact that the man who 'guesses'
lives hundreds OF miles from the man
who reckons. while neither Of Thorn
may ever have mat the one who allows.
-Americanisms and more American
that can be got hold OF. heaped high
for good nieasure-such IL the approved
formula for the Yankee "a he Ii written
down in British fiction. And not the least
curious feature Of tho queer business
il that the supposed Americanisms are
often inaccurate. awkwardiy used or
wholly spurious. In one Of his short
stories Max Pembsrton is responsible
for these words from the lips Of an Ameri-
can society girl on visit TO England:
I'm right glad. You're AZ
pale a. spectres. 1 guess. Fancy
that. now! You are my guest.
| reckon. And here you are.
my world
This comes near being a tour de force.
Besides the unciassiaed pale AZ spectres'
We have tire same speaker using idioms
typical OF New England. the Southern
States, old England, and perhaps Aus
tralia. Does it not suggest burlesque
dialect comedy run riot,
However. TO do this author justice.
he has acquired a later manner which
ia much lesa open TO unfavorable criti-
cism. When he ventures almost across
the Atlantic in a fun grown move, he
mean skill. his most serious lapse being
when he causes her TO ask
Ia there any Venezuelan ship that
would harm subject OF the United
State~7" A. il any free born American
especially proud and high spirited
Yankee girl ever would speak of baing
subject to or Of anyt hing imaginable,
The late Grant Allen. who could do
so many things and who did none Of them
badly. was not at hs best when he tried
TO out line a typical Yankee. and prob
ably he knew il for he flied in he out
line with a sparing hand. In the course
of Miss Cayley's Adventures We NEE,
CYRUS ". Hitchcock. an American bicycle
agent touring Europe on business bent
You can seldom Law your finger squarely
upon a weak spot in Hitchcock. Yet all
the while YOU are on the edge OF uncer-
tainty a. To- whether the impersonafion
is going 70 he carried successfully to an
end
The moment seen you. he informs
Miss Cayley. 1 thought we two could
do a trade together Youll
give these mein herrs fits You'll take
the clear starch ont Of them
You can CyCl. That's so
You've hit IL in one. miss Which will
YOU take a cigar or "A cocoanu' 1.-THE query
being a playful allu-on TO hat amuse-
ment called here The African dodR.r but
known In England as 'cocoanut shy
A favorit. ad jeciIve IL high toned
hut he never succeeds In using n quite
a. "A real American would. and when he
speaks OF putting in a show for put
ting in AN appearance he reminds
US OF the slip made by anot her British
mad. Yankee who declared that you
have the insid. road when evidently
he meant inside track
MIR Andrew Lang. whose literary
abilities extend IN many directions
that h. had humorou-lv been accused OF
being a svndica's shows his Scotch eau
zion when h- iacitlv admits that he does
nor feel competent 20 deal with The ,Yanhs..
dialect Wishing to introduce an Ameri-
can girl into one of his stories he max - Use
OF an ingenious eSpsdieD'
He. tells vs. that she has been educated
in England but from motives Of pat riot
ism models her speech on "A study OF
American humori-ts which -h~ ,errone-
Ou-vI believed 10 b" rhe national idiom
Mr. Lang informs III AZ the outset that II
- obs let. and exaggerated then hav-
ing diSarrned criticism h" goes blithniv
forward 10 treat u- 20 such curio~ities
a. Your Tennvson has the inner tracks
on our tongfellow vour ThaCkrray gives
oar B.rtha Runkl" his dust Guess
? hey are -cnlv Varuint- Guess
popya was cut. Guess Poppa was
NOT mean. not worth 3 cent &c fanny
indrew' No sailing IN uncharred and
little known waters for you
Now and then "A siSilf,il British nov
els' will almost succeed in creating
Yankee who would no fairly convincing
IL only he were allowed Ia keep h- mouth
shut Mr. II - VI Watson presents to
va IN on. ~ his stories I'm American mil
lionaire who reveals li''l. of his foreign
except when using such
speache- "a | suppO~" You've got di-
rs,-orv ANYWAY knock ny about this foot
ball. and You ouRht to have don. bust
mess with me away ~ Chicago
Efforts To AmeriCnniZe ~ charH ct@r'S
Talk bv throwing into il an occasional
away or way have been almost in
disastrous. The awkward effect
produced above u matched by four
equally conspicuous failures selected from
n novel by Walter Firth has
gone wav N 10 Holhorn' y stroll a
block or two wnv down the Strand -
drive him wav DOWN home by "azy
stages He can pack his grip and b"
wav IN home
In one ~ 'hn novels 81 Richard White
ing We encounter an agreeable young
Duchess who was formerly u Yankee
-