The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-07-14
NOT LIKE SHAKESPEARE
Invasion Of American Language Was
Finally Traced to the InscrIp-
tlons In Moving
Pictures.
[By Ed. L. Keen, London correspon.

LONDON, July 14.-The English.
language is being sadly corrupted 4
and in curious way
For three or four years past British
philosophers have been sorely puzzled
to account for the rapidly increasing
use In this country OF American
slang and other Yankeeisms So gen.
eral has become the employment Of
UNITED States" In ordinary every
day conversation, in the newspapers,
and occasionally even In parliament
that the situation has assumed al
most the dignity OF national peril.
That the sacred tongue of Shakes
peare and Addison and Bacon should
thus be migrated with barbarisms,
from New York, Chicago and Keokuk
was bad enough. But 1t was much
worse for the philologists to have to
sit idly by and watch fine historic old
British slang expressions actually re-
placed by the imported article-with-
out being able to find any reasonable
explanation for the phenomenon
There has been no marked increase
in the volume OF transatlantic pas
senger traffic in recent years; in fact,
the English strikes OF two years ago.
the psychological effect OF the tt,
tanic disaster last year, and the clos.
ing of many public show places in
London and other English cities this
year on account OF the suffragettes'
activities. have resulted in keeping
away a good many possible American
visitors, II not In a reduction Of the
normal aggregate. Nor had there
been any appreciable increase in the
sale OF American books or in the cir
culation of American newspapers
and magazines. Why then the extra
ordinary invasion OF the American
| language?
The question would probably still
be unanswered If one Of the distress.
! ed philologists, wearied in mind from
his futile efforts to solve the riddle,
hadn't dropped into a moving picture
show the other afternoon for an hours
relaxation.
It's the movies" that are respon-
sible
The pathological gentleman discov-
ered-what nearly every Londoner al
ready knew-that about seven-eighths
of the films displayed in the picture
palaces here are of American make.
But he also observed, what others
had simply absorbed without analyz-
ing the subject, that the explanatory
sentence thrown on the screen be-
| tween the scenes OF American picture
plays are couched in United States
/ The film makers have never gone to
4 the trouble to substitute English
slang or colloquialsms for the Ameri-
can expressions. Hence, the movies
of this country have become an I'M
conscious instructor OF the British
public in English as 1t is spoken
across the water The pictures them.
selves furnish the translation and
make visual impression that sticks.
When the fact is considered that
some 10000 men, women and chill
dren daily visit the 300 cinema
houses OF London and it's suburbs
alone, and that $40 new American film
subjects were released in England In
the past month, the effect of this
education Is at once apparent
| With heart full of gloom, Prof.
w. G. Faulkner, the philologist who
made this noteworthy discovery, and
who sees no remedy, thus sorrowfully
1 elucidates the situation-with an oc.
casional slip-up due doubtless to his
own lack Of adequate attendance at
the film-shows.
Il am convinced that the growth OF
American words and expressions in
this country Is directly due to the
moving picture business. The cor
ruption OF the English language by
American words coined to express
something the exact meaning OF
which cannot perhaps be rendered in
4 English has gone to amazing lengths.
The words have no lawful origin. no
percentage.
THE patron of the picture palace
Ilecrns alternatives to one of our new
est words .hooligan' in 'hoodlum' and
| tough. He watches a dive which
is thieves, kitchen or room in
which bad characters meet and when
the william talks Of dough ne knows it
lis money to which he is referring.
The musical ring of the word tramp
gives way TO the stodgy hobo or
| dead beat. It may be that the plot re-
yeals an attempt to deceive some
simple-minded person, whereupon the
innocent one is spoken of as suck
| err 'come-or,' boob Or lobster
III he is stupid into the bargain.
| TN the innumerabIe cowboy stories
the braggart will be in the band wag-