SAY, BO, LOOSEN UP AND SLIP ™ME AN IRON MAN. I'VE GOT TO DRAG MY FRILL TO A SHINDIG MY WORD! WE NEVER TALKED THAT Drawing by Ray Walters. By ELWMD SCOTT WATSON HERE are . the words of yesterday? Gene, most of them, | back into the vacuity! from which they came, | and then into oblivion. Some of them may sur- vive for a few weeks or a few months before they disappear. | A still smaller number will persist for a year or more, then find their way inte new editions of our dictionaries. | But they will he labeled thus: (Slang) | ar f{colloq.), for the king's English 1s as conservative as the English king, | referred so in that designation of our language, and no upstart word need | apply for admission unless it can show | some kind of ancestry to justify its! breaking tute Word Society. Even-| tually, of course, it may appear in! Diection’s Blue Book without the stig- ma of (Slang) or (Colloq.) attached! to it, but the period of probation is | usually a long one. And thus are new words bern. Who remembers the favorite slang | wards or expressions of ten years ago, or five years ago, or even a year ago? | How long has it been since you told a friend te “skidded” or exclaimed slang | plans has gone “bloeey™? Or, for that matter, bow recemtly hase you retort ed “So's your oid man”? To say that fashions in slamg change as rapidly as fashions in women’s dress is an In- adequate statement of the speed with which we Americans add to the bright lexicon of youth and them discand the new extravaganza as wern-out and trite. That applies, of course, to the ma- Jority of the curremt slang phrases, They are the ones which ean offer no etymological ancestry to justify their existence. But for such a word as coctie, which the lexicographer Ia- bels: (British soldiers’ slang) and which can point back to the ancient Sanskrit “kutl” meaning “body.” or to the Urdu, an obscure eastern dia- lect, “khuthi,” meaning “scab.” there is a good chance that it will become an English word in good and regular standing. The same is true of hooteh, a word of Alaskan origin which came from hoochinoo, a spirituous driok made by the Indians of that territory, and savvy, which has u double ances. try, the French savoir faire, meaning ability or skill, and the Spanish sabe, meaning understand. Why do we use slang, anyway? There are at least three good reasons, according to one scholar who has made a special study of the subject. The first is for relief from monotony, and no matter how lacking in real meaning the slang word or phrase is, Inexpensive Art Children should grow up familiar with the great art palatings of the world, yet one cannot often have fre quent contract with the art insti tutes. The pictures will become more a part of the child life If they are 'n every day about the home, Fine rt pictures can often be cut out of magazines or prints can be purchased at -a very small price and framed in artistic frames from the 10-cent store, TO GET PICKLED WAY IN THE DAYS OF THE GOOD QUEEN, WHAT ? NaN ; Dig 2 ST yan a from the stale, customary of our everyday The second mo- usually humorous and bits of slang contain some element of hu- | mor have more chance to persist | than others. An example is the word “flivver” which was colned less than speech. tive is intent, ceptance as a word In common usage | which leads good usage and to | eventual incorporation !u the language | because it is intrinsically an amusing | word. The third motive for use of | slang, according to this scholar, is to | avold clumsy words, and a short, one- syllable word, even though it is slangy, becomes a recognized sxnonym for a longer, two or threesyllable word To many persons it is easier to say “bean,” "bone" or "“plunk,” than to say “dollar.” and to refer to a crazy person as a “nut” rather than as a to But slang at its best is exemplified in the coining of a new word, or the | adaptation of an old one, to utter a striking, picturesque characterization, and the slang word often provides the proper word would utterly fail to do. A ploneer expression for an Inefficient and useless person was, “he’s a do- less fellow.” Modern slang has im- | proved upon that. Could there be any more apt and tothe-point characteri- zation of an ineffectual individual than to borrow two words from tho realm of motordom and say that he is u “flat tire”? Isn't that about the ultl- mate in expressing the acme of use- lessness? It is traditional that American slang should be troublesome to England, the home of the mother tongue and with the Increasing interchange of Ameri | can and English literature and drama the English have become more and more concerned about It. An Amer. ican play In London has been a tail. | ure because there was so much American slang in it, and In issuing some of our novels English publish- ers have found it necessary to print a glossary of American slang plhirases so that English readers can understand them. This, however, leads to some amusing blunders, ss witness the explanations given in the English edition of Sinclair Lewis’ “Babbitt.” Here the English reader is informed that “heck” in “by heck” is the “familiar for Hecuba, a New England deity,” a “go-getter” Is “one who pursues business or Information,” a “hoodlum” is a “erank,” a “once over” is a “trial,” and a “freshman hop” Is a “college dancing club.” % % This is a good substitute for the gaudy ealendar and meaningless pletures that are too often seen In the children's room. The children will learn to love these pictures and to appreciate the originals when they have the oppor- tunity of seeing .them. What Is a Highbrow? The Forum's prize definitions of a “highbrow” are rather disappointing. “A ‘highbrow,’ one competitor says, "Is a chap who has evoluted and knows abouf It.” Another says it Is the But the English are valiantly trying to understand us. An English society, the "8S. P. E.” (Society for Preservation of English or Soclety for Purity of English, perhaps), has secured the services of an American professor to help them “gethep to our lingo” Prof. Fred Newton Scott of the Uni versity of Michigan, an authority on rhetoric, has compiled a dictionary of American slang phrases which has been published as “8S. P. E. Tract No XXIV” to ald English readers who are with American novels There are approximately 200 but these will give us some idea of the sort of “slanguage” which bas our British cousins puzzied: All In—exhausted Applesauce—~(noun One of the atest It or interjection) pleces of slang In has two quite dis. tinét meanings (1) nonsense! flattery It Is commonly used as a term of jogular contempt In reply to effusive but unjustifiable flattery Attaboy (from baby-talk for “that's a boy!" )-fine! bravo! Balled up-stalled; unable to go on Bat-spres, good time. Bat round-—have a geod time, ure). Baw! out-—to rebuke sharply, violently (transitive verb). Bean-~-head. Bean--to hit on the head Beat it--go, get out! good drubbing to, Bellhop-—u page In a hotel That's the berries—that's just right Blaa. (blah)—~blunder, foolish talk. Blab -mouth-~indiscreestly loquacious person Blowhard-<boaster Blow in—sapend. Blow to a dinnbér--give a dinner to (not unknown). any publisher's announcement, espe- clally to passages of fulsome laudation on the Jackets of newly published books, to cover the Lrief summaries, analyses, and appreciations (usually in smaller that often precede magazine stories and articles. indispensable, Bo (from hobo)--friend, pal Bone-dollar. Bonehead-—stupid person. Boob-—«dunce, one easily misled Boost—to promote, to push, to laud Booster--indefatigable promoter. Bootlegger-—one who smuggles strong drink. Now well known Booze -fighter—drunkard. Booze -hoisting—drinking liquor, suits Buck«—oppose, Buck-~doliar, Bulldoze—to compel by a show of foree, to bully. Twentleth-century word for “swelled head” A third, “The highbrow is a highly developed specimen of the go nus homo, species sapiens, He is more sapiens than homo. He remem. bers Mark Twain's definition of caull- flower as ‘cabbage with a college edo- cation’ and considers himself a canli- flower in the human cabbage pateh.” None of which Is as clever a b nition as the old and oft-repeated Set : “A highbrow is a person educated be- Jond his intellect.” — Boston Tran. pt m— — WHAT PRICE ARMS? An elderly negro had been hired to in a south ern museum, day he was found by the overseer very much. dejected near a reproduce tion of the familinr statue of Venus “What's the matter, Sam? “Job too much for you?" yo-all won't monument.” think Ah busted DISCUSSING STYLES Mr. Pester—Id Instyle's new coat. Mrs, P—Some new furhelow, Mr. Pester— No, there no below. It was all in the collar. you notice Mrs. eh? Was fur Misleading Adage “You have served your many years.” “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum. “l have figured up advantages 1 have enjoyed and 1 have decided the man who said ‘Republics are ungrate. ful' was one of these people who have large ideas. but don't know how to play politics." —Washington Star. country the Slow “The man who wins™ she sald, “is the man who is prompt in embracing an opportunity.” “Well,” he whispered, after he had glipped his arm around her,” how do 1 strike you as an winner?” “Only fair,” she answered could have happened a month “This ago.” Obscuration “Your speech was rather a affair” “1 made it so on purpose.” answered Senator Sorghum. “I put In a whole lot of words, same as they do in an insurance policy, so as to make it hard to remember anything in particular.” ~Washington Star. long Careless Chap! Traveler— My! beautiful! His Wife-—-John! Do you realize that your head Is hanging out of the porthole? brains knocked out! Gracious, Yes! Alice—Jim certainly plays the violin beautifully. Freddie—Zat so? Why, I didn’t even know he could blow one! HER EXCUSE An actress was: passing a Okeh With Her Miss Fitt—How'd you like to take a Caller (enthusiastically-—Oh, fine! M. F.—Then don't let me hold you back. Looking Forward Irate Papa-—What! You want to marry my daughter-~why, you don't make enough to pay the rent! Dumbissimo--Well, Eloise and 1 hadn't expected you to charge us any rent. ourt Procedare He drew her to him. She objected. “See here,” he sald, “ian’t this the drawing room?” Objection withdrawn, -- Capper's Weekly. all It's an Ready-cooked, easy-to-serve A Veteran “That grandfather's Customer — “Quite an it" —Good Hardware, Clerk is n old Has Been Proved Safe by Millions. Warning! Unless you see the name “Bayer” on package or on tablets you are not getting the genuine Bayer Aspirin proved safe hy and prescribed by physicians for 26 years, Say “Bayer” when you buy Aspirin, Imitations may prove dangerous.—Adv. millions Spender “Why do you never trust your wife with any . “She has money? no sales resistance” The occasional use of Roman Eye Ralsam at night will prevent and relleve tired eyes and eye strain. 372 Pearl Bt, N, YY. Ady Just as Good wife but, “Toes the glie's traflic good know then, your “No, rules?” looking.” Feverishness arising therefrom, Signs Madge-—Helen must have been talk- ing about me, Marie—Why do you think go Madge—When 1 met her she me twice, 7 kissed Cuticura Soothes Itching Scalp: On retiring gently rub spots of dan- druff and itching with Cuticura Omt- ment. Next morning shampoo with Cuticura Soap and bot water, Make them your everyday toilet preparations and have a clear skin and soft, white hands. — Advertisement, Above It “Did the boss say anything when he the tack?” “No, he felt it beneath him."—Good Hardware. sat on “DANDELION BUTTER COLOR” A harmless vegetable butter color used by millions for 50 years. Drug stores and general stores sell bottles of “Dandelion™ for 35 cents —Adv. In not in satisfying, de Heber, moderating. sires lies peace, BAIA NT MOTHER :— Fletcher's Castoria is especially pre- pared to relieve Infants ir arms and Children all ages of Constipation, Flatulency, Wind Colic and Diarrhea; allaying and, by regulating the Stomach Absolutely Harmless = No Opiates. The Fresh Thing! Look at that chap over He's trying to flirt with you! like to give him a good punch the jaw! Mae—So would 1! band. Roe silly I'd in Habit is an every-day affair. Physicians everywhere recommend it Long and Short “Your new butier is quite tall, isn't he? “Yes, but we can't keep him long” People who enjoy peripatetics are {| people that don’t mind perspiration. Old reckonings breed new disputes Colds Headache Pain Neuralgia ’ Lumbago Mononcetioneidenter of Balleylionchd: * a
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers