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-