Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/94

SLANG all the vulgar, flash, and indecent terms of the author's time. It has been several times re- printed ; the best edition is by Pierce Lgan, with additions (8vo, 1823). A "Slang Dic- Uonan " was puMMu-d in London in isf.n, and a revised edition of it in 1875. The earliest work on American vulgarisms is the Rev. Dr. John WitluTspoon's "Essays on Americanisms, Perversions of Language in the United States, Cant Phrases," &c. (Philadelphia, 1801), ori- ginally published in a periodical called "The Druid" in 1761. Slang, considered as the generic term for all illegitimate words and phrases, consists partly of words derived di- rectly from thieves' cant and foreign languages, partly of old words with new adaptations, and partly of new words and expressions coined to meet new conditions. Many of the most com- mon slang words were originally thieves' cant, and have been in use for centuries. Among these are " cove " or " covey," a boy or man ; "darbies," handcuffs; "doxy," a strumpet, a tramp's female companion ; " duds," clothes ; "fence," a receiver of stolen goods; "glim," a light ; " mug," the mouth or face ; " nob," the head; " swag," booty or property ; "tog," a coat ; and " wipe," a pocket handkerchief. Of words derived from the gypsies are " bosh," nonsense ; " cheese," anything good or genu- ine; "pal," a friend or accomplice; "rum," good (man or thing) ; and " snack," a share of plunder. Besides what English slang has drawn from the Celtic, Gaelic, Saxon, and Norman French, it derives many words from other European tongues, including the ancient Greek and Latin, and from several of the east- ern languages, notably the various East Indian di iK-cts, the Persian, and the Chinese. Among the words borrowed from the French are: " cahoot " (cohorte), to keep company ; " spree " (esprit), a carousal ; and " feele " (fille), a girl ; from the Spanish : "savvey" (sale), to know; "vamose" and "mosey" (camos), to go; and "cavort" (cavar), to caper; from the Ger- man: "loafer" (Laufer), an idle fellow; "frow " (Frau), a wife; and "bower" (Bauer), n-rd in riuht and left bower in cards; and from the Dutch: "boosey" (buizen), drunk- "logy" (log), dull, heavy; "boss" (boat), a master or head; and "landlubber" (landloo- per), a vagabond. The East Indian tongues contribute " tiffin," breakfast or lunch ; " dun- garee," poor, motley; and "chit," a letter; and the Chinese, "chop," used in such expres- sions as "first chop," "second chop"; "koo- too" or "kotow," to cringe to, to flatter ; and "pigeon," the Chinese pronunciation of busi- ness, used in the expression " pigeon English." Tin- lingua Franca, or bastard Italian, spoken in the Mediterranean seaports, which is a bar- barous compound of most of the languages used along the shores of that sea, has also contrib- uted largely to English slang. Of old words invested with new meanings, some of the most iiMion are: "bleed," to pay or lose money; blow," to vaunt or boast ; " bolt," to leave, to run away; "do," to cheat, as "to do one out of his money," &c. The verb "to go" furnishes numerous slang phrases, as "go it strong," "go back on," "go ahead," "go for one," "go through," "go by," "go the whole hog," "great go," "little go," "rum go," " pretty go," a " go " of liquor, &c. ; and " let " almost as many, as "let slide," "let rip," "let up," "let on," "let out," "let in," "lit drive," "let alone," "let the cat out," &c. Many of these, although properly slang, have acquired through constant use a right to a place in the language, and may be regarded as good " dia- lect " English. To this class also belong many of the words usually called Americanisms, which had their origin in this country and have a flavor of our institutions, such as "log- rolling," " wire - pulling," " axe - grinding," " pipe - laying," " filibustering," " mudsill," "mean white," "doughface," "jayhawker," " bushwhacker," " copperhead," " carpet-bag- ger," "shinplaster," "stamp," "greenback," " copper," " nickel," &c. The fashionable af- fectation too of using French words, with meanings which would not be recognized in Paris, as " on the tapis" " to chaperon" " beau monde," " the damant," may be relegated to this department of slang. America is respon- sible also for very many of the new words coined to meet new conditions, such as " ca- boodle," " calithumps," "contraptions," "high- falutin," "hunkydory," "shenanigan," "spon- dulicks," "skedaddle," "scalawag," and such corruptions as "slantindicular," "rambump- tious," and "splendiferous." (See AMERICAN- ISMS.) Every business, vocation, and profes- sion has its slang, and every notable civil event and political convulsion furnishes new phrases and words, most of which are ephem- eral. The press and the theatre are prolific comers, and the university, the army, the ex- change (see STOCK EXCHANGE), politics, fash- ion, the prize ring (see PUGILISM), and the turf are all responsible for a large share of the current slang of the day. The sea too is no less profuse in illegitimate expressions than the land, and sailors' slang is proverbial. In France the jargon of the thieves and vagrants, which is called argot, is a comprehensive lan- guage, with a grammar and literature of its own. Argot has been traced as far back as the 14th century according to some authors, but others believe that it originated with the gypsies, who appeared in Paris in the first half of the 15th century. One of the earliest works on it is Le jargon, ou langage de Vargot re- forme, &c. (f royes, 1660). In 1827 a diction- ary of argot was published in Paris ; but the prosperity of argot literature date's rather from the publication in 1837 of Vidocq's work on thieves, containing the argot dictionary, which he began in 1819. Since then many other works have appeared, of which one of the most valuable is Michel's fitudes de pliilologie comparee sur Vargot, &c. (Paris, 1856). Argot has found a conspicuous place in modern