The Daily Missoulian., 1912-08-04

county. North Carolina. In .1s41,. frank
" declared that the address e,sdeliv-
cred in congress was not for his audi
tors but that he was speaking for
Buncombe," he gave to the .1Ongllsh. ID
slang phrase which hasa traveied
around the world. II was one .M a
long line or .colloquialisms which have
gone TO swell The mother tongue, and
Henry Thomas Buckle stated mo more
than the truth when he said that
many SLANG words and phrases arr
but serving their apprenticeship, and
will eventually become the active
strength Of our language" ,ss
~ More than q hundred English dc
tioraries Of, slang have bees compiled
from that Of ',rhotnaA Harm{Al Il (, In
1873. to thg.,-y monumentalsa yEA1lish
Dialect Dictionary" In sin }2fa, svoi-
umes. edited by Or. JOSEPH knlSpt,
which has appeared only; redSnflx AZ
early as 1915 John sPickeriH1 rAdA q.
collection OF words ana ph9AA44 sup
posed to be peculiar to- tAe t13nited
States. Sherwood's early gasetteer Of
Georgia contained a glossary. OF. slang
words current In the southern states.
Slang in general is q subject which
has engaged the attention OF many men
OF various minds Martin Luther ed
tied. and wrote preface for the Lib
er vagatorum." translated into Eng
lish by John Camden Hotten as THE
Book OF vagabonds and Beggars. with.
a vocabulary OF their Language" Lu-.
theirs edition Of this celebrated work
appeared In 1928, but It appeared orig-
regarded as the earliest important col
lection of slang In any language
Thomas Moore diverted himself with
"Tom Cribs Memorial to Congress"
a humorous poem abounding In slang
and pugilistic terms. with a burlesQue
essay on the classic origin of slang.
Old Thomas Haman. who compiled the
first slang dictionary In our language.
was a worthy and pions man. whose
glossary was merely incidental to his
work OF suppressing thievery and
vagabondage In '"the spacious days or
great Elizabeth" He was followed 80
years later by Thomas Decker who
wrote 1.-The 'Bellman of London" with
!
Light" which contins a "Canter's
Dictionary"
The real parent OF our slang dictlon-
aries. however. was that OF the face
tious Captain Francis Grove. who. In
1885, compiled his classical Dictionary
OF the Vulgar Tongue" Vulgar II was,
to a fault, but II was practically the
only original work OF the kind since
the Elizabethan Harman. Robert
Burns was boon companion Of Grose
and whatever obligation to him he may
have contracted by borrowing from his
dictionary was more than cancelled
when he wrote Tam o'Shanter" for
the captains special delectation.
The first dictionary of what may be
called modern slang was compiled by
John Camden Hotten In 1869 and as
''of any can't slang or
vulgar words not mentioed In the die
were invited from all readers,
the work grew In successive editions
until II, has attained to very considers
able proportions The great English
Dialect Dictionary" of DIR. Joseph
Wright Is a scholarly and imposing
work and finds it's only rival In the
seven volume Dictionary of Slang and
colloquial English compiled by John
S. Farmer and the late w. r. Henley.
A distinction Is technically made be-
tween slang. on the one hand, and
what. on the other hand isA variously
known as cant, flash, Peddlefs French.
st. Giles Greek. etc. Cant, etc.,. may
be said to refer to the old secret Ian
guage OF gypsies. thieves, tramps and
beggars. Slang Is that picturesque
flotsam OF the streets. the vaudeville
stage. the political campaign. banded
about by rooters and street gamins
and humorous writer's until II attains
general currency. To the former be-
long the secret signs and symbols
which the hobo of our own day. after
the fashion OF his fellows from time
chalks upon gate posts
and barn doors for the guidance and
of his comrades who shall
come behind. A chart Of begging
with the character OF every
Weary Willie. Is reproduced in one of
the most popular OF the modern slang
A cross mark. for EXAM
pie. signifies mo good" while a square
indicates, beware af the dog"
It Is slang. or the language of the
streets. which holds the greatest In
terest. however. and the subject II full
OF surprises. Disraeli said "the purest
source OF neology Is the revival OF old
words" and DIR. Latham maintained
that the thieves Of London are the
of Anglo SaxOnisn1."
When Colonel Roosevelt used the word
"moilycoddle." II attained q itew
vogue. and yet nothing is more certain
than that It dates back to. at Least
isOl.e and while the public press avas
debating his beaten to fraxxle.' the
people of the southern states were
going along quietly In their familiar
use of the phrase Just AZ they had
done for more than, a century.nA
''crack" article. In thee sense OF FIRST
rate. WAS not elegant enough for the
fastidious DR.. Johnson, and yet II was
thoroughly acceptable In the days of
Henry VIII. With the stigmata .spf
slang upon It we now find II again
IN use. A dodge" as a cunning trick.
Is the purest Anglo Saxon: ''Hallivant-
Ing" and "flabbergasting' are quite
respectable old words. while 'gad-
ding may be found In an old trans
tnt ,e h..