New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-12
THE COMING
OF LINGO
YOUNG MAN fell heir 10 a.,
fortune Of real money.


Now" said he, when the coin :,
actually his, and the lawyers had al
away for the last time, Il could spend a,
suppose, and have perfectly eorkins =.
Or | could speculate in Wall Street a, -
run for my money in some Legitimate II
ness, but these things do not appeal :.
They are all too commonplace. Nosody ~. q
any attention any more TO the felo,
merely has a corking time with his uo,..
plunges into Wall Street, or puts ith.Lt
ness. am going to get action with mr..
in brand new way"
He didn't say anything TO anybody A., l
his plans, but very quietly he went IA
Germ which controlled the adyertsiuy
ileges on elevated stations, surface can s.,
a whole lot of high fences and billboard. -,
putting down in plain sight some money n l
cellent quality, talked to the boss for 10.
while and told him thus and So VERY sh,,..
after that, on all the elevated stations, /, :,
the surface cars and on a whole lot Of ~
fences and bilboards there appeared 4 NM.
terious placard or poster with these word
faring red type, upon It: "Say lingo"
That was all. There was nothing d.
Everywhere the words appeared. Peo,h On.
ing into town in trains were urged 70 Ca,
lingo" by bilboards twenty miles out We,
they got into the city lingo was On as,
minds. In the city conveyances, Under In
surface, on the surface, over the surface, az
same injunction faced them. They ope,s
their newspapers and there, on q pronins:
page, occupying space next to pure resdrs
matter, were the identical words again, @su +
lingo"
"What the blazes is lingo! million N.
pie asked themselves. Others said with ersh,
insight:
"Oh, shucks! It's only the first step n y
advertising campaign for something. Thsrl
be second series of ads in these spaces soca'
But there wasn't. Nothing but Say znc
Everywhere it appeared. Magazines printed ],
in their advertising pages without the Lid.
est additional detail. Gradually it became @
object Of national attention, then Of natioul
curiosity. People began 10 lock for \
wherever they went. They joked about 4,
guessed and wondered about II. II began b
be slang. If the life Of the party anyvhsr
wanted to get laugh from a parlor or pore
full of girls it was a perfect cinch. He snp5
said lingo, and everybody giggled; hg
knew not why. To monologue men On h.
vaudeville stage it was a boon. The eonsd
king of the libretto Of musical hodgspctr
had it as one of his most telling lines Ever.
body everywhere was saying lingo and ~
ting lot of fun out Of it. You heard "a
the street, in the office and in the home. Bsbiu
lisped it and parents said "How cute" Mn
listers made use Of the expression in the pulpit
Delrous patients, drawing on the subt'e'
scious mind for their vocabulary, emitsss
whole strings of Zingos. Several per''''
shutting off this mortal coil chose it es the'
last words. 1t was more than a craze-it VI
a mania, yet nobody knew what it meant
Nobody? A mistake. One young man W
the exception-the young man who set out q
get action with his money in a brand Ns
sort of way. He knew what nobody elss ID
He knew what lingo meant He knew ID
lingo meant nothing.
One day when he figured that the time NJ
about ripe for further developments, the ycne
man sat down and wrote a letter. II WI
letter to a very big and important person
the world of finance and business. He hsd
personal acquaintance with the important pr
son, but he told him some things about "ZlnsS
and the next day he received request to e.
and talk it over.
do you mean to tell me, young mani" ~
the big and important person, that you Do
in all that money in advertising someshn
that didnt-and doesn't-exst?"
That's about it," replied our young ID
with the utmost GOODNESS.
well, I'll be-
The big and important person in the Dos
ress world leaned back in his chair ard y
garded the STRIPPING before him with won0'
and admiration.
why, you know what you've got, Of eoufS'
he finally said. you've got corner on Pr
tically all the publicity in this country
a.Of y c,,,oth tho inuenfnr OF LnX