Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-11-10

One Of the pleasures Of reading the
typical English novel, at least to an
American, is to catch the slang ex-
pressions which are SO different from
our own, yet. equally expressive.
Especially do the novels depicting
London life deal in these colloquialismS
The tendency to include number OF
typical modern slang expressions has
grown during recent years.
An even. dozen Of interesting slang
words and phrases may be found In
almost any of the newer novels written
by the younger British writer's.
Typical OF them all Is Angel Pave
ment," by j. B. Priestley, written almost
two years ago, but quite ss good story
now as when first issued.
One OF the first bits of slang in that
interesting book is packet o gaspers. :
With the context, it Is plain enough
but without it many might fail to I'M
derstand.
A. packet of gaspers" is pack OF
cigarettes-what else?
&*+
Some one or other of the young fell
lows OF the story is forever asking Tor
casper and especially for q
packet" of EN-.
Evidently over there, although they
love t6 clip their words. and do It with
more freedom than their cousins In
America, the word packet means
pack" and that is the end OF It,.
Another expression, much used In
this particular novel, but which we nave
not seen much in any other. Is foul.
The comparatives, "fouler" and foul
est" also appear a great deal.
Anything which one does not IKE
such as a motion picture, or meal, OF
q rainy day, is foul" There no
connotation of naStiness, merely OF as
like. Just as we might say that q
certain play is punk, or even rotten,
SO the characters Of Angel Pavement
use foul" With them almost any
thing is foul" II they feel that way
about it Above all, the long trips to
and from work in crowded public. We
hicles. are forever being branded as
particularly foul a state OF mlno
with which one is often forced to agree,
at times, whatever the land.
Hes going all out" is used to express
the idea that some one Is giving ms pest
doing all that he can to win. we must
90 ali out" is often used. The implica-
ton Of course is that all the inner con-
yiction and ability Of the person is go
ing out Of him in work or effort TO con-
vince
AS with SO many of these English
slang expressions this one conveys
rather more knowledge Of language than
most American slang terms. Ours most
" are coined heaven knows how. or by
whom. probably by the intensely IL
literate as likely as not one sometimes
thinks.
Many Of the English terms impress
one, particularly reader, as being the
product of minds Of higher grade. es-
pecially of men who though they may
be Young have a long tradition OF proper
usage behind them.
Most readers OF English magazines OF
the better class feel something Of this,
there is such an easy usage throughout
most OF the articles The same quality
above all distinguishes their book re-
views II word not in common usage
is introduced it will Invariably be ex-
planned. within a few sentences, by It's
equivalent or its very position may leave
nothing in doubt.
The young men Of London, If We may
believe their books, never ask Tor a
raise" in salary as American employees
do, when they can get up the nerve TO
do it
Londoners speak OF. and ask for. a
rise in salary" Here they use the verb
form rather than the noun, and one
may wonder just why they do it. To
American ears, at least raise" sounds
best 1t is. indeed. a wonderful word to
the working ear, however one spells II.
One of the most unusual expressions