MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 39, 15 February 1905, Page 9

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

AMERICAN ENGLISH. A certain ingenious shoeblack on the northern shore of the Lake of Geneva evolved some time ago a notice which conveyed to the passer-by the information-. "English spoken; American underStood. - ' Regarded as it stroke of humour it was distinctly happy, and it has since, been copied in various different parts of the Continent: but there was also a good deal more sound sense in it than many people would imaeiue at first sight. For instance, a statement to the effect that there are able men "back of" a certain paper conveys beyond all question that, whatever may be the nationality of the '-able men," the compiler of the advertisement is an American. And, just as the American language prefers '-"back of" to '-behind,*' so" it invariably uses the rather clumsysounding phrase "two weeks"' in preference to the word "fortnight." An Englishman "expects to be at the station about ten minutes to twelve." while a Yankee ''calculates to be at the depot, (pronounced in the Anglo-Saxon rather than the Gallic method) "at ten minutes to twelve." Having arrived there, he proceeds to "board the car," while the Englishman is "getting into the carriage." An Englishwoman sets out in quest of a "shop," and hag no other name for it, whether it be one small room ten feet square or the manystoried establishmen t of some "Universal Provider." An American woman describes the former simply as a "store," while the latter is described, not inaptly, as a "department store." On arrival there the English girl proceeds to buy a "blouse.' , ' while the Xewyorkaise is busy at the same counter purchasing a '•shirt-waist." An Englishman sends a post-card to say that he ia ill, and cannot keep his engagement to go with you to a musichall in the everting. In similar circumstances the Yankee sends a "postal 5, to say that he is "sick" (which is. of course, good old Elizabethan English), and guesses lie cannot accompany you to the "vaudeville." One very curious point about these subtle differences iv the two languages is that where the British use a short word they prefer a long oue, and viceversa. For instance, we speak of the "autumn:" they invariably use the word "falL" We go up in the "lift;" they take the "elevator." The English baby goes out in a, "perambulator;"the American infant takes the air in a "push-cart" or "push-waggon." It is, however, of course in the matter of slang that the differences are the most striking, and often most unintelligible. An Englishman sums up his enthusiasm in the word ''keen," where an American employs the word "crazy"' for the same purpose. An English girl is "awfully amused"' at- something which causes her American sister to declare that she is "just tickled to death:" One of the most misleading American phrases is ■"'quite a little."' which means "a good deal." whereas in English it would be usually interpreted literally. The cryptic phrase, "a lead-pip* cinch," means what an English racing man calls "a, dead cert;" and it -is interesting to compare the French slang word "tuyau," which is used in exactly] the same sense. A word frequently employed by Americans that is quite unknown to most English, people is the word "stunt,"' in the sense of a difficult achievement. Originally it was used as a verb, meaning to "dare" anyone to do a thing; it is now commonly used to mean the tiling done, as the result of such a challenge.