The American Language · OmniClassics

[23] Political Americanisms....; New York and London, 1890. [24] Gustavus Myers: The History of Tammany Hall; 2nd ed.; New York, 1917, ch. viii. [25] Knickerbocker's History of New York; New York, 1809, p. 241. [26] Extensive lists of such drinks, with their ingredients, are to be found in the Hoffman House Bartender's Guide, by Charles Mahoney, 4th ed.; New York, 1916; in The Up-to-date Bartenders' Guide, by Harry Montague; Baltimore, 1913; and in Wehman Brothers' Bartenders' Guide; New York, 1912. An early list, from the /Lancaster (Pa.) Journal/ of Jan. 26, 1821, is quoted by Thornton, vol. ii, p. 985. [27] Many such words are listed in Félix Ramos y Duarte's Diccionaro de Mejicanismos, 2nd ed. Mexico City, 1898; and in Miguel de Toro y Gisbert's Americanismos; Paris, n. d. [28] Prescott F. Hall: Immigration.... New York, 1913, p. 5. [29] Most of the provisions of this act, however, were later declared unconstitutional. Several subsequent acts met the same fate. [30] The majority of these words, it will be noted, relate to eating and drinking. They mirror the profound effect of German immigration upon American drinking habits and the American cuisine. It is a curious fact that loan-words seldom represent the higher aspirations of the creditor nation. French and German have borrowed from English, not words of lofty significance, but such terms as /beefsteak/, /roast-beef/, /pudding/, /grog/, /jockey/, /tourist/, /sport/, /five-o'clock-tea/, /cocktail/ and /sweepstakes/. "The contributions of England to European civilization, as tested by the English words in Continental languages," says L. P. Smith, "are not, generally, of a kind to cause much national self-congratulation." Nor would a German, I daresay, be very proud of the German contributions to American. [31] /Vide/ a paragraph in /Notes and Queries/, quoted by Thornton, vol. i, p. 248. [32] Thornton offers examples of this form ranging from 1856 to 1885. During the Civil War the word acquired the special meaning of looter. The Southerners thus applied it to Sherman's men. /Vide/ Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. xii, p. 428; Richmond, 1884. Here is a popular rhyme that survived until the early 90's: Isidor, psht, psht! Vatch de shtore, psht, psht! Vhile I ketch de /bummer/ Vhat shtole de suit of clothes! /Bummel-zug/ is common German slang for slow train. [33] Jan. 24, 1918, p. 4. [34] Nevertheless, when I once put it into a night-letter a Western Union office refused to accept it, the rules requiring all night-letters to be in "plain English." Meanwhile, the English have borrowed it from American, and it is actually in the Oxford Dictionary. [35] The word is not in the Oxford Dictionary, but Cassell gives it and says that it is German and an Americanism. The Standard Dictionary does not give its etymology. Thornton's first example, dated 1856, shows a variant spelling, /shuyster/, thus indicating that it was then recent. All subsequent examples show the present spelling. It is to be noted that the suffix /-ster/ is not uncommon in English, and that it usually carries a deprecatory significance, as in /trickster/, /punster/, /gamester/, etc. [36] The use of /dumb/ for stupid is widespread in the United States. /Dumb-head/, obviously from the German /dummkopf/, appears in a list of Kansas words collected by Judge J. C. Ruppenthal, of Russell, Kansas. (/Dialect Notes/, vol. iv, pt. v, 1916, p. 322.) It is also noted in Nebraska and the Western Reserve, and is very common in Pennsylvania. /Uhrgucker/ (=/uhr-gucken/) is also on the Kansas list of Judge Ruppenthal. [37] English As We Speak It in Ireland, 2nd ed.; London and Dublin, 1910, pp. 179-180. [38] "Our people," says Dr. Joyce, "are very conservative in retaining old customs and forms of speech. Many words accordingly that are discarded as old-fashioned--or dead and gone--in England, are still flourishing--alive and well, in Ireland. [They represent] ... the classical English of Shakespeare's time," pp. 6-7. [39] Pope rhymed /join/ with /mine/, /divine/ and /line/; Dryden rhymed /toil/ with /smile/. William Kenrick, in 1773, seems to have been the first English lexicographer to denounce this pronunciation. /Tay/ survived in England until the second half of the eighteenth century. Then it fell into disrepute, and certain purists, among them Lord Chesterfield, attempted to change the /ea/-sound to /ee/ in all words, including even /great/. /Cf./ the remarks under /boil/ in A Desk-Book of Twenty-Five Thousand Words Frequently Mispronounced, by Frank H. Vizetelly; New York, 1917. Also, The Standard of Pronunciation in English, by T. S. Lounsbury; New York, 1904, pp. 98-103. [40] Amusing examples are to be found in Donlevy's Irish Catechism. To the question, "Is the Son God?" the answer is not simply "Yes," but "Yes, certainly He is." And to the question, "Will God reward the good and punish the wicked?", the answer is "Certainly; there is no doubt He will." [41] Richard Meade Bache denounced it, in /Lafayette/, during the 60's. /Vide/ his Vulgarisms and Other Errors of Speech, 2nd ed., Philadelphia, 1869, p. 65. [42] R. J. Menner: The Pronunciation of English in America, /Atlantic Monthly/, March, 1915, p. 361. [43] The Standard of Pronunciation in English, pp. 109-112. [Pg097] IV American and English Today § 1 /The Two Vocabularies/--By way of preliminary to an examination of the American of today I offer a brief list of terms in common use that differ in American and English. Here are 200 of them, all chosen from the simplest colloquial vocabularies and without any attempt at plan or completeness: /American/ /English/ ash-can dust-bin baby-carriage pram backyard garden baggage luggage baggage-car luggage-van ballast (railroad) metals bath-tub bath beet beet-root bid (noun) tender bill-board hoarding boarder paying-guest boardwalk (seaside) promenade bond (finance) debenture boot Blucher, or Wellington brakeman brakesman bucket pail bumper (car) buffer bureau chest of drawers calendar (court) cause-list campaign (political) canvass can (noun) tin candy sweets cane stick canned-goods tinned-goods car (railroad) carriage, van or waggon checkers (game) draughts chicken-yard fowl-run chief-clerk head-clerk city-editor chief-reporter city-ordinance by-law clipping (newspaper) cutting coal-oil paraffin coal-scuttle coal-hod commission-merchant factor conductor (of a train) guard corn maize, or Indian corn corner (of a street) crossing corset stays counterfeiter coiner cow-catcher plough cracker biscuit cross-tie sleeper delicatessen-store Italian-warehouse department-store stores Derby (hat) bowler dime-novel shilling-shocker druggist chemist drug-store chemist's-shop drummer bagman dry-goods-store draper's-shop editorial leader, or leading-article elevator lift elevator-boy lift-man excursionist tripper express-company carrier filing-cabinet nest-of-drawers fire-department fire-brigade fish-dealer fishmonger floor-walker shop-walker fraternal-order friendly-society freight goods freight-agent goods-manager freight-car goods-waggon frog (railway) crossing-plate garters (men's) sock-suspenders gasoline petrol grade (railroad) gradient grain corn grain-broker corn-factor grip hold-all groceries stores hardware-dealer ironmonger haystack haycock headliner topliner hod-carrier hodman hog-pen piggery hospital (private) nursing-home huckster coster (monger) hunting shooting Indian Red Indian Indian Summer St. Martin's Summer instalment-business credit-trade instalment-plan hire-purchase plan janitor caretaker legal-holiday bank-holiday letter-box pillar-box letter-carrier postman livery-stable mews[1] locomotive engineer engine-driver lumber deals mad angry Methodist Wesleyan molasses treacle monkey-wrench spanner moving-picture-theatre cinema napkin (dinner) serviette necktie tie, or cravat news-dealer news-agent newspaper-man pressman, or journalist oatmeal porridge officeholder public-servant orchestra (seats in a theatre) stalls overcoat great-coat package parcel parlor drawing-room parlor-car saloon-carriage patrolman (police) constable pay-day wage-day peanut monkey-nut pie (fruit) tart pitcher jug poorhouse workhouse post-paid post-free potpie pie prepaid carriage-paid press (printing) machine program (of a meeting) agenda proof-reader corrector-of-the-press public-school board-school quotation-marks inverted-commas railroad railway railroad-man railway-servant rails line rare (of meat) underdone receipts (in business) takings Rhine-wine Hock road-bed (railroad) permanent-way road-repairer road-mender roast joint roll-call division rooster cock round-trip-ticket return-ticket