WHERE WE GET OUR SLANG

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 15, 12 October 1918, Page 3

WHERE WE GET OUR SLANG

SOME HIGHLY RESPECTABLE ORIGINS

A GOOD DEAL FROM FRANCE

General Pau has discovered during his .brief sojourn in Australia that the slang of one country is the mib-lime language of another. Ho claims (says a writer in the Sydney "Sun") theword "hoskcr" as good French, only he spells it differently—"beau que ca. ' There is ho reason to dispute' the contention which has been so ingeniously upheld by the great French soldier, who has found at least one tie- that binds us to his gallant and oourteous country. There is an old slang term, not r.cw very much used, whioli has a resemblance—'.'bosky," meaning inebriated— not too much so, but just mellow. It is said to have been derived from the ancient cant word "bowse" (boose), meaning drink, now applied to strong drink. Away back in the time of Queen Elizabeth writers'referred to "boosing and belly-cheere." A man who had been drinking down to his peg, when asked how he felt, would invariably reply, "I feelboosv," or ."bosky." Ho may have-said "bosker," but there is no'trace of such a word either in the works of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ben Jonson. Chapmau, or. Beaumont and Fletcher. "Boose" was a polite word in those days. It has now passed into the realm of slang. . As the General gets better acquainted with the Australian "slanguage'/ he \vill recognise many old frionds_ in a new garb. Fo.- instance, there is the word "barracking," or, as it should be spelled,""barrikin," meaning jargon, speeoh, or discburse. AVe now give a wider meaning to it. A barracker is a person who backs his party or cause by trying to shout the other fellow down. The word is derived from the old French "baracan"; modern Frencii "baragouin." A familiar slang phrase is That s the tioket." Here again the word has been borrowed from the Frenoh. The phrase should read "That's etiquette. When the words are used they\ are intended to mean; "That is correct, or "That is what is wanted." More amusing ' still is the word "beans." When we say that a man has "plenty of beans" we mean that he has plenty of money, or a good banking account, or that he has property. The French word from which our slang term is derived is "biens (property). Formerly, in England, "bean" .was the. term .for a. guinea.

- Bumper is from the French bon pere the fixed toast of the monks, now used for "full measure." An old buffer, a jolly acquaintance, is from the French "bouffard," a fool or clown. Some of our slang words are Anglo-Norman) ' such as "Don't get crusty"- (annoyed, or ill-tempered), from the Anglo-Norman word "Corriseux.

Quaint Slang Terms. The language of most nations—particularly the English—is built up of slang. Every war has added words to the dictionary. Every great event in history has created phrases among the common people, many of which Jiave become the language of the poets. The most astonishing slang phrase in English is "All my eye," a remark of incredulity, shortened from the actual Words/ "All my eye and Betty Martin." This, is really a vulgar rendition of a Latin prayer to St. Martin, which was much used before the Reformation, "Oh, mihi, beate Martine." AVe hear so much about the Labour Party Caucus, and the fact that other political parties have ' adopted the caucus—that is to say, decided to meet in private to. decide; matters' of policy —that it is quite interesting to know the word "caucus" is ono of the slangiest of slang terms, about 142 years old. It is a corruption of "caulkers' meeting," which was the title given to the meetings of_ an association of men connected with ships at Boston, who-were very active in getting up opposition to England just previous to the American AVar of Independence. Several citizens were killed in a disturbance with the soldiers, and a meeting was held in the caulkhouse to concert measures for redress. America has. given us some quaint slang, for instance the word "buncombe," denoting walso sentiment, absurd ideas. It arose out of a speech delivered by a North. Carolina Senator name Buncombe, whose name is for ever written on the scroll of fame. Australia's Slang City. A slang name was adopted in the "golden age" for a famous town in Victoria. Bendigo was christened after the famous prize-fighter, William Thompson,, known in the ring as Bendigo, who flourished as champion from 1835 to 1850. He was born in Nottingham, being one of three at a birth, ana 'among the people of their native town they were known by the.Scripture names as'Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the latter name soon getting corrupted into Beiidigo, which was also' the name given to a rough fur cap worn by the pugilist. He afterwards .became a Methodist parson, and died in the odour of sanctity, fighting the devil with his last breath.

One wonders whether another goldfield, now Young, • originally called Lambing Flat, should not have been spent_ Lamming, which is a slang word moaning to beat with the hands. Australia narrowly escaped having many of its towns named after the favourites of the old prizefighting ring. Tho word dungaree (now the i name given to a coarse blue cloth) is an Anglo-Indian slang term meaning low, common, coarse or vulgar. It is dorived from Dungaree, the name of a disreputable suburb of Bombay. •Some slang words do not always give the right_ meaning. For instance, the Americanism "skedaddle" (to go-off in a hurry), adopted during tliei Civil AVar. AA'hen the Southern Army was forced to retreat, ■ it was announced that it had skedaddled." The word is a» Scotch one from Dumfries, and means "to spill." Most interesting is the derivation of the word humbug (an impostor). It is said to have been derived from Hamburg, from which town so many false bulletins and reports were issued during the wars of the 18th century. AVhen a picco of improbable news came through people would exclaim: "Oh, that is all Hamburg" (humbug).' History repeats itself. The synonym for a lie at the present time is "AA 7 ireloss from Berlin." Gipsy Words. The language of the gipsies, who landed in England in the roign of Henry VIII, has given us many words which aro still slang, that word itself being of gipsy origin. Daddy (a father), and mammy (a mother, formerly a grandmother), are gipsy words. So is bamboozle (to perplex), and bosh (rubbish, nonsense). The good old word mull (to spoil or to bungle) and pal (a brother,-now a partner) belong to the language of tho wandering tribe, and so does bloke (a man). "The bloke with fho'jasoy" (the man with the wig), a judge. To bilk anybody (to cheat them) is from the Gothic word bilaican. Chum (an intimate acquaintance) is from the Anglo-Saxon word cuma (a guest). Cove (a boy, a man), irenera-lly preceded by an expressive adjective, comes down to us from Henry Vll's time, whon it was cofe, and>was good, respectable English. A r amoose (let off, get out), is the Spanish word vamos (let us go). Swindler, once a slang

term, camo from Germany in 1762. The- German Jowa who set up in business in London about that time were willed swindlers, which was as noar as I,lio Cockney could get to the Gorman word Sch'windeln, which aignifies to cheat. Son of a gun should he "gomiof" (a street thiof).v To burke anything has sw.ung round from its original meaning, which was te kill or to murder, secretly and without noise. The-word-is_ derived from the name of the notorious murderer Burke, who lived in Edinburgh. With an accomplice, named Hare, lie decoyed people into his den, killed them, and sold their bodies for dissection.

Swot is another interesting Blang term, moaning to work hard for an examination, to be diligent. The- word originated at the military college at Sandhurst. Dr. AVallace, ono of the professors, spoke in a broad_ Scotch dialect, and.swot was the way in which he pronounced sweat. It has since passed into use in every Englishspeaking university.