THE ROMANCE OF WORDS
_Words and Archeology._
The 18th century rediscovery of the close connection between Sanskrit
roots and European speech has opened up a mine of information about the
culture of our primitive ancestors. Our word _pecuniary_, for instance,
from Lat. _pecunia_, money, is derived from _pecus_, cattle, pointing to
the time when property consisted, not of _coins_ (Lat. _cuneus_, a
wedge, Gr. _konos_, a peg or cone, from which _cuneiform_, _cone_,
_coign_, _hone_) but of _cattle_ (from Lat. _caput_, head, whence
_capital_, _chattel_, _chief_, _chef_, Eng. _head_, etc.) Carrying the
word _pecus_ further back, its meaning changes from _cattle_ to _sheep_;
then to _wool_; then to a verb stem meaning _to pull_ or _pluck_. Thus
the whole idea of property may be traced in the wanderings of meaning of
this one word. Cognate words in the Indo-European languages for _hound_,
_ox_, _cow_, _ewe_, _goat_, _sow_, _swine_, _pork_, and for _ech_, an
early English word for horse (kin to Skt. _acva_, Gr. _hippos_, Lat.
_equus_, Irish _ech_, etc.) indicate an acquaintance with at least six
domestic animals before the separation of the European peoples.
Philologists have dug deeply in such cases. Thus the English _beech_ has
as cognates Ger. _Buch_, Lat. _fagus_, meaning beech; also Gr. _phegos_,
oak; Curdish _buz_, _elm_; Old Bulg. _buzu_, _elder_. The English _fir_
appears in Ger. _Fohre_, fir; Lat. _quercus_, oak, etc. In such cases,
as in the involved etymology of _tree_, the term before the separation,
undoubtedly starting as the name of a specific tree, may have been
broadened into the class-name for tree, and been applied in each country
to the chief tree at the time of the migration.
The Indo-European tongues have cognate words for _field_ and _mow_ and
_furrow_, indicating agriculture before they separated. It is quite
different with the names for metals. The word _metal_ itself first
appears in Herodotus, as _metallon_, a mine. _Hammer_, found in cognates
in many Indo-European languages, meant originally _stone_, and points
back to the Stone Age. The one metal known during the late Stone Age was
copper; we find Lat. _aes_, Gothic _aiz_, Skt. _ayas_, Avestan _ayah_,
all meaning copper. The name _copper_ comes from the island of Cyprus;
just as _bronze_ is connected with the city of Brindisi, in the Lat.
_aes Brundisinum_, Brindisi copper.
In the cases of the other metals, there are no such cognates. The Greek
word for gold, _chrusos_, is said to be of Hebrew origin; Lat. _aurum_
originated from a Latin word meaning yellow or shining. Another form is
seen in _gold_, found both in Teutonic and Slavic speeches. Its origin
is unknown; it may have been geographic. _Silver_ has no common
Indo-European name; it gets this name from the Pontic city _Salube_.
_Iron_ and _lead_ are in the same category; the Teutons received from
the Celts both metals and names. _Steel_, appearing in many Teutonic
dialects, is comparatively late. Of recent metals, _cobalt_ is from the
German _kobold_, a sprite; _nickel_, named by the Swedish mineralogist
Cronstedt in 1754, came from Ger. _Kupfernickel_; the element _nickel_
referring to another demon, _nickel_, pet form of _Niklaus_ (compare
_The Old Nick_; from _St. Nicholas_, whence _Santa Claus_, originally
from Gr. _Nicholas_, akin to _nica_, victory.) _Tungsten_, still more
recent, is named from Swed. _tung-sten_, heavy stone. _Platinum_ comes
from Span. _plata_, silver, from the metal’s appearance. _Aluminum_ or
_aluminium_ was discovered in 1812, and is named from _alum_ (Lat.
_alumen_, alum, origin unknown).
_House_ is from Teutonic origins, probably connected with _hut_,
_hoard_, _hide_; the Lat. _domus_, house, is the older root, akin to Gr.
_demein_, to build, Skt. _dama_, etc.; our _dome_, _domicile_,
_domestic_, come from it, as does _timber_. _Bolster_, _bed_, and other
words for the contents of the house, are found in the Indo-European
group of cognates; _wheel_, _wagon_, _axle_, _thill_, _yoke_, _lynch_
(pin), also so found, point to their antiquity in Indo-European culture.
Thus the study of words gives us a rude picture of our primitive
ancestors, long before they left the Asian plateaus for their bloody
scattering over the world.
_The Romance of Words._
One of the most amusing phases of word study is the false etymologies
around which much early history is gathered. Thus _Britain_, an old
Celtic word, was traced back to the fall of Troy by the invention or
connection with a _Brut_, or _Brutus_, a descendant of Aeneas, supposed
to have settled in England. A similar process connects _Corineus_, a
companion of Brutus, with the naming of _Cornwall_, properly
_Corn-Wales_, strangers in the land. _Lisbon_ was mistraced to Ulysses
by spelling in _Olisipo_. The _Scots_ go the nations one better by
tracing descent to _Scota_, daughter of Pharaoh. The Early Greeks
invented a mythical _Hellen_, whose sons _Aeolus_ and _Dorus_, and
grandsons _Achaeus_ and _Ion_, were the parents respectively of the
collective Hellenes or Greeks, and the tribes of Aeolians, Dorians,
Achaeans, and Ionians, all in an endeavor to prove general kinship.
Consider the recent attempts to derive _Yankee_. Among the explanations
offered are (1) an Indian attempt to pronounce _Anglois_, French for
_English_; (2) _Eankke_, coward, in an Indian dialect; (3) Scotch
_yankie_, a great falsehood; (4) _Yankoos_, a tribe of Indians
conquered; (5) _Jannekin_, a Dutch taunt at New Englanders; (6) a
corruption of _Yorkshire_; (7) Chinese _Yang jung_, East Indian _Yang
Gee_, you are a foreigner; (8) as _Yankee Doodle_, from Persian _Yanhi
Dunia_. We may confidently expect (9) from Egypt. Tut-Ankhamen,
colloquially Dude-Ankhy, whence Doodle-Yankee. The greatest philological
mishmash we have encountered is entitled “Prehistoric Times, or
Milestones in the Evolution of Man,” by four woman authors, proceeding:
It is because words related originally to sex, which is dual, that
we have the double letters in a word, as in woRRy, EEl, fOOl (both
kinds)! The two letters are, one for the one sex, one for the other.
BRIC-a-BRAC is the CRIBbing male and the CRABbed female. WIG-WAG is
the WICKed male, always so considered, and the WAGon-like female,
which carries the young.
After this, we are not surprised at the River _Picket-wire_ in Texas,
locally derived from its shape, though the French named it _Purgatoire_,
Purgatory. Many local legends account for the English inn names _Plum
and Feathers_ (from the _Plume of Feathers_, the Prince of Wales’
crest); the _Bull and Gate_ (from the _Boulogne Gate_, to commemorate
the taking of Boulogne by Henry VIII); and the _Goat and Compasses_
(from the fine old Puritan signboard, “_God encompasseth us_”).
_Place Names._
Place names, like coins in circulation, have in many cases lost their
original markings. Thus _York_, as named by the old Britons, was
Eburacon, perhaps from a man _Eburos_. The Teutonic Angles altered this
to _Evuroc_, which was further modified and took on the Anglian
termination _-wic_, arriving at the form _Eoforwic_, read as _Boar Town_
(_eofor_, boar, and _wic_, dwelling place). The Danes gave it a new
spelling and pronunciation, _Iorvik_, which was corrupted to the present
_York_. Thus the German city _Mainz_ is remote from the original Lat.
_Mogontiacum_; _Laon_ from Lat. Laudunum. More recently _Chateau Vert_,
Green Castle, near Oxford, appears in English as _Shotover_.
There is hardly a river in England that has not a Celtic name. The Celt.
_avon_, river, is used for a dozen streams. The Celt. _dun_, fortress,
appears as far apart as _Carrodunum_ on the Dneister and _Singidunum_,
old name for Belgrade, to _Dundalk_, _Dungannan_, etc., in Ireland. In
France it is hidden in _Autuc_ (_Augustodunum_), _Lyons_ (_Lugdunum_),
_Verdun_, (_Verodunum_); in Great Britain it appears in _Dumfries_,
_Dumbarton_, _Dundee_, _Dunstable_, etc. The Latin _castra_, camp, dots
England in _-caster_, _-chester_, and _-cester_ terminations; _strata_,
road, is fixed in _Stratford_, _Stratton_, _Streatham_, _Stretford_,
etc. Simpler derivations are _Oxford_, (_ox-ford_), _Swinford_
(_swine-ford_), etc. Anglo-Saxon place-names are often derived from
persons; as _Brighton_, from _Brihthelmestun_, farmstead of _Brihthelm_.
The termination _-ing_ enters into a tenth of the number of names of
English villages and hamlets. Thus _Washington_ is the town (_ton_) of
the family (_ing_) living on the _Wash_. The Norse occupation is shown
by _-by_, _-thwaite_, _beck_, and _dale_; _-thorp_ is usually
Scandinavian.
In America, the native Indian names range from the harshness of
_Connecticut_ and _Massachusetts_, and the grotesque in _Canojoharie_,
_Kalamazoo_, _Ypsilanti_, _Skaneateles_, to the liquid beauty of
_Miami_, _Appalachicola_, _Tuscarora_, _Tuscaloosa_. Dutch names,
_Hoboken_, _Brooklyn_, _Spuyten Duyvil_, _Catskills_, _Yonkers_, point
to Dutch occupation. The French gave _Vermont_, _Detroit_, _Joliet_,
_Terre Haute_, _St. Louis_, _Baton Rouge_, _Mobile_, _New Orleans_. The
Spanish contributed _Florida_, _San Antonio_, _El Paso_, _Albuquerque_,
_Santa Fe_, _Colorado_, _Los Angeles_, _San Francisco_, _Montana_, and
many others. Occasional German and Scandinavian place-names point to
their occupation.
Free use was made in America of the old names. There are more than 600
postoffices beginning with _New_. _London_ appears in 11 states;
_Paris_, 21; _Berlin_, 24; _Florence_, 34. There is 1 _Babylon_, 3
_Ninevehs_, 16 _Romes_, 19 _Spartas_, 22 _Athenses_, 29 _Troys_. There
are 18 _Alphas_, but only 11 _Omegas_. There are 12 _Bethlehems_, 22
_Bethels_; 13 _Paradises_, and 1 _Hell Creek, Colo._ There are 11
_Freedoms_, 26 _Independences_, 38 _Unions_; 28 _Enterprises_, and 1
_Money Creek_; 16 _Harmonies_, but 25 _Lonelies_; 7 _Sunshines_, 1
_Twilight_; 3 _Faiths_ and 18 _Hopes_. There are 2 _Nellies_, 11
_Coras_, _and_ 17 _Adas_. There is a _Beef Creek_, a _Greasyridge_, a
_What Cheer_, a _Yelk_, a _Yell_, a _Dead Broke_, a _Murderer’s Bar_.
The progress of culture is indicated in the Kansas village that changed
its name from _Wild Cat_ to _Keats_. There are 3 _Whynots_, 1 _Josh_;
infinite _Washingtons_, _Franklins_; 22 _Brooklyns_, 75 _Buffalos_ (in
various compounds). There is _Seven_, Tenn.; _Fourteen_, W. Va.;
_Seventeen_, O.; _Seventy-Six_, Ky. and Md.; _Ninety-Six_, S. C. So has
the American spirit spoken.
Among unique English perversions, in addition to _Shotover_, are
_Leighton Beau-desert_ to _Leighton Buzzard_, _Burgh Walter_ to
_Bridgewater_, and _Beau Chef_ to _Beachy_ (Head). _Chemin Couvert_
became, in Arkansas, _Smackover_. Even _Bunker_, in Bunker Hill, was
once _Bon coeur_. There is more approval for the transformation of the
amazing Indian _Quah-Tah-Wah-Am-Quah-Duavic_ to French _Petamkediac_,
and later English _Tom Kedgwick_. In similar fashion _Gramercy_ Square,
New York, was not originally French but Dutch for crooked lane, _De
Kromme Zee_.
_Personal Names._
Most Englishmen of the Anglo-Saxon period were content with a single
name. A frequent element is _Aelf-_, elf or fairy, as in _Aelfgar_,
_Aelfhelm_, _Aelfred_. _Aethel-_, meaning noble (Germ. _Edelman_,
nobleman) appears in _Aethelbald_, _Aethelred_. _Ead-_, association with
_eadig_, happy, appeared in _Eadgar_, _Eadgyth_, _Eadmund_, _Eadweard_,
_Eadwine_. Other elements are _bald_, bold; _ecg_, edge; _god_, good;
_wig_, battle; _sie_, victory; _wulf_, wolf, as prefixes: and, as
suffixes, _heard_, strong; _here_, army; _mund_, hand; _roed_, counsel;
_wine_, friend. Less pretentious are such names as _Brand_, sword;
_Cytel_, kettle; _Wulf_, _Hild_ (a), _Hengest_, _Horsa_, _Hudda_,
perhaps pet forms of longer names. These survive, often greatly
disguised, in such modern names as _Baldwin_ (Bealdwine), _Harold_
(Herewald), _Bardell_ (Beorhtwulf), _Elmer_ (Aelfmaer), _Herbert_
(Herebearht), _Herrick_ (Hereric), _Hubert_, _Hubbard_, _Hobart_,
_Hibbert_, _Hibbard_ (Hygeeorht), _Wyman_ (Wigmund), _Kemp_ (Cempa,
warrior), _Cob_ (Cobba), _Froude_ (Froda, prudent), _Tucker_ (Tuccao),
etc.
After the Norman Conquest, the names most widely used were _John_,
_William_, _Thomas_, _Richard_, _Robert_, in the order given. _John_
(Lat. _Johannes_), found in other languages Ital. _Giovanni_ (from which
_Zany_), Fr. _Jean_, Welsh _Evan_, Scotch _Ian_, Breton _Yves_, Russian
_Ivan_, Dan. and Dutch _Hans_, is responsible also for _Shawn_, _Jane_,
_Joan_, _Jones_, _Johnson_, _Jennings_, etc. _Thomas_, also Scriptural
in origin, owed its popularity to pilgrimages to the shrine of St.
Thomas a Becket. We have from it _Thoms_, _Thomson_, etc., and from the
ending, a French clipped form, _Macey_, _Massie_, _Machin_, _Masson_,
etc. The other three names are Teutonic. _William_, M. H. G.
_Willehelm_, helm of resolution, had in French two forms, _Guillaume_
and the one with the initial _W-_. From these comes the parallel forms
_Gautier_ and _Walter_, _Guy_ and _Wyatt_. _Williams_, _Wills_,
_Williamson_, _Wilson_, _Wilkins_, _Willett_, _Gilliam_, come from it.
_Robert_ was O. H. G. _Hruodbert_, fame-bright; _Richard_ was _Richart_,
powerful. From these came _Rick_, _Hick_, _Dick_, _Rob_, _Hob_, _Dob_,
_Bob_; also _Ricketts_, _Hicks_, _Hixon_, _Dix_, _Dixon_, _Rich_,
_Ritchie_, _Hitch_, _Higgs_, _Bigg_, _Robb_, _Ditch_, _Robbins_,
_Robson_, _Robinson_, _Hobbs_, _Hobson_, _Dobbs_, _Dodson_, etc.
Along with this went the relative infrequency of _Arthur_, _Charles_,
and _George_. Their popularity was later, from the royal houses of
Stuart and Hanover, and from Arthur, Duke of Wellington. Similarly
_Frederick’s_ vogue came from Frederick the Great.
In the period before the Conquest, individuals often earned an epithet,
as Edmund _Ironsides_, Aethelred _the Unready_, Edward _the Confessor_;
but these were not transmitted from father to son. The earliest form of
surname proper was the patronymic, the name of parent or ancestor. Thus
Alfred the Great was properly Alfred _Aethelwulfing_, or son of
Aethelwulf. Thus the Beowulf characters are the _Scyldings_ and
_Scylfings_, sons of _Scyld_ and _Scylf_ respectively; similarly the
Greeks Hippias and Hipparchus were _Pisistratidae_, sons of Pisistratus,
etc. With later Hebrews, Abou _ben-Adhem_ meant son of Adhem. In Slavic
languages the patronymic ends with _-vitch_; in Norman _fitz_ (Mod. Fr.
fils, son) served the same purpose; among Scotch and Irish _Mac_,
relative. In Welsh, _Map_, or later _Ap_ or _Ab_, was used: it appears
disguised in many names, as _Pugh_ (_ap-Hugh_), _Bowen_ (_ap-Owen_),
_Powell_ (_ap-Howell_), _Price_ (_ap-Rhys_), _Pritchard_ (_ap-Richard_),
_Prothero_ (_ap-Roderick_), _Blood_, (_ap-Lud_), as well as _Upjohn_,
_Updike_, etc. The Irish _O’_ serves practically the same function as
_Mac_. Scandinavians use _-son_; thus _Olson_ (_Olaf-son_), _Anderson_
(_Andrew-son_), _Pedersen_ (_Peter’s son_). In the South of England the
old genitive ending _-s_ accomplished a similar function; thus Tom’s
Mary would be distinguished from Herbert’s Mary. From this we get many
surnames ending in _-s_. especially among the Welsh, such as _Jones_,
_Williams_, _Hughes_, _Evans_, _Roberts_, _Edwards_.
A second source of surnames is from the locality where a man lived.
_Scott_ is an English name applied to Scotchmen; the reverse is true of
_English_. _Cornish_ and _Cornwallis_, for dwellers in _Cornwall_,
originated in neighboring Devonshire. Similar are _Brett_, _Britton_
(Brittany), _Picard_, _Power_ (Picardy), _Loring_ (Lorraine), _Bullen_
(Boulogne), _Bloss_ (Blois), _Loving_ (Louvain), _Sessions_ (Scissons).
Place-names more purely local, with or without the terminal _-s_, are
_Ford_, _Bridges_, _Field_, _Craig_ (crag), _Lake_, _Rivers_, _Brooke_,
_Cairnes_, _Glenn_, _Dunne_ and _Dun_ (hill), _Hill_, _Wood_, _Forrest_.
From the O. E. _burh_ (dative _byrig_), fortified place, came _Burrows_,
_Burroughs_, _Borrow_, _Brough_, _Burke_, _Bury_, _Berry_. _Peak_,
_Pike_, _Peck_, _Pick_, meant hill-top; _Law_, _Low_, _Lynn_, _Shaw_,
_Holt_, _Hurst_, _Barrows_ are similar. More definite are the
place-names in _Tuttle_ (_Toot-hill_), _Tyndall_ (_Tyne-dale_),
_Haywood_ (_Hay_, hedge, and _wood_), _Radcliffe_, _Wycliffe_,
_Dodd_-ridge, _Bradshaw_ (broadwood), _Crashaw_ (crow-wood), _Earnshaw_
(eagle-wood), _Renshaw_ (raven-wood), _Schofield_ (school field). From
the _cliff_ root came also _Clifford_, _Clifton_, _Cleaves_,
_Cleveland_. The old northern form _yett_ for gate appears in _Yeats_
and _Yates_. _Hyatt_ is _high-yett_. Dialect variants of _Hedge_ appear
in _Hay_, _Haig_, _Haigh_, _Haw_, _Hey_; plurals, _Hayes_, _Hawes_.
A third principal source of modern surnames is found in names of
occupations. _Smith_, _Butcher_, _Carpenter_, _Miller_, _Taylor_, are
fairly obvious. From crafts less in evidence come _Chaucer_ (shoemaker),
_Hunt_ (hunter), _Day_ (dairyman), _Webb_, _Weaver_ (weaver), _Frick_
(warrior), _Wright_ (worker). _Webster_, _Brewster_, _Baxter_ are
feminines of weaver, brewer, baker; others are _Millard_ (millward or
guardian), _Plummer_ (plumber), _Inman_ (landlord), _Ward_ (guard),
_Firminger_ (cheese-maker), _Barker_ (tanner), _Chapman_ (merchant),
_Clark_ (clerk or scholar). Among obsolete occupations are _Arrowsmith_,
_Fletcher_, and _Flower_ (all arrowmaker: compare O. E. _fla_, arrow);
_Boulter_ (bolt-maker), and _Bowyer_, Bower, _Boyer_ (bow-maker).
_Fuller_, _Tucker_, _Shearer_, _Sherman_, _Walker_, point to early
cloth-making. _Tyler_ (tile-man), _Chandler_ (candlemaker), _Hawker_
(itinerant salesman), _Parmenter_ (parchment-maker), _Pilcher_ (fur
cloak maker), _Quiller_ (maker of quilted ruffs), _Cutler_ (knife
maker), _Spooner_ (spoon maker), _Collier_ (coal worker, charcoal
burner), _Croker_, _Crocker_ (maker of crocks), _Cooper_, _Cowper_
(maker of casks), _Lorimer_ (bridle maker), _Sellars_ (saddle maker),
_Parker_ (park guardian), _Hayward_ (literally hedge ward, guardian of
tilled fields), _Constable_ (stable-man), _Stuart_, _Stewart_ (steward)
are a few more. _Graves_ blends two forms: O. E. _gerefa_, reeve, and
_Greaves_ for Grove. The same is true of _Howard_, both from _Hayward_
and earlier _Hereward_.
A fourth source of surnames is nicknames. Henry _Plantagenet_, Richard
the _Lion-Hearted_, Edward _Longshanks_, are examples. _Wolf_, _Lovell_,
_Lovett_, are all from wolf; _Drinkwater_, _Doolittle_, _Larned_ (from
_learned_), _Longfellow_, _Fairfax_ (fair hair), _Purdy_ and _Pardee_
(from a French oath), _Shakespeare_, _Wagstaff_, _Hurlbutt_, _Benbow_
(from _bend-bow_), _Lovejoy_, these require no comment. There were also
_Stout_ (meaning brave), _Little_, _Seeley_ (happy), _Moody_
(_courageous_), _Bragg_ (brave). From the French came _Burnett_
(diminutive of brown), _Blunt_ and _Blount_ (blond), _Power_ (poor),
_Curtis_ (courteous). The Celtic gave _Gough_ and _Roe_, both red;
_Bain_, _Wynne_, and _Gwynne_, white; _Glass_ and _Lloyd_ and _Floyd_,
gray; _Sayce_, Saxon; _Vaughan_, little; _Cameron_, Scotch for crooked
nose; _Campbell_, wry mouth; _Kennedy_, Irish for ugly head.
There was no uniformity in the spelling of personal names at first. In
addition to the varied spellings of Shakespeare, Dr. _Crown_, 17th
century, spelt his name variously _Cron_, _Croon_, _Crown_, _Crone_,
_Croone_, _Croune_. _Pierce_, _Peirce_, _Pearce_, _Pearse_, _Pears_, all
derive from _Piers_, Fr. for apostle Peter. _Lea_, _Lee_, _Ley_,
_Leigh_, _Legh_, _Legge_, _Lay_, _Lye_, all come from O. E. for meadow.
_Elspeth_, _Elsie_, _Eliza_, _Liza_, _Lisa_, _Lizzie_, _Beth_, _Bet_,
_Bettie_, _Betsy_, derive from _Elizabeth_. Suffixes like the
diminutives _-kin_, _-in_, _-ie_, _-ett_, give to _Pierce_, _Perkins_,
_Pierson_, etc. _Matthew_ gave rise to _Matthews_, _Mayhew_, _Mayo_,
_May_, _Mee_, _Mayes_, _Mekins_, _Meeson_, and at times _Mason_. The
list is interminable.
Corrupt spelling, following slurred pronunciation, gave _Farrar_ from
_Farquhar_, _Mean_ from _Meaghan_, _Calhoun_ from _Colquhoun_, _Beecham_
from _Beauchamp_. The Saints’ names suffered a speech-change:
_Bartholomew_ to _Tolley_; _Edmund_ to _Munn_; _St. Aubyn_, _Tobin_;
_St. Osith_, _Toosey_; _St. Maur_, _Seymour_; _St. Clair_, _Sinclair_;
_St. Paul_, _Semple_. The reverse tendency is found in _Alys_, _Edythe_,
_Nellie_, etc.
Dutch names in the United States suffered such alterations as _Reiger_
to _Riker_, _Haerlen_ to _Harlan_. French changed _Caille_ to _Kyle_,
_Soule_ to _Sewell_, _Bon Pas_ to _Bumpus_, _de l’ hotel_ to
_Doolittle_. German shifts were _Blum_ to _Bloom_, _Reuss_ to _Royce_,
_Oehm_ to _Ames_, _Furth_ to _Ford_. At times they were translated:
_Pfund_ to _Pound_; _Konig_, _King_; _Schwartz_, _Black_; _Weber_,
_Weaver_. Jewish names have also seen such changes as _Rosenberg_ to
_Rosen_ to _Rose_ to _Ross_; _Hilkovitch_ to _Hilquit_ to _Hill_;
_Schneider_ to _Taylor_; _Schlachtfeld_ to _Warfield_; _Schonberg_ to
_Belmont_. In the New York City directory, _Smith_, _Brown_, _Miller_,
_Murphy_, _Meyer_, are first five in order of popularity. _Cohen_ and
_Levy_ come 8th and 9th; _Jones_ 10th, _Taylor_ 23rd.
_The American Language._
There are those who think that typical American speech is found in such
a sentence as, _Them guys ain’t got no pep_. Here the first is
ungrammatical; the second, slang; the third, bad grammar again; the
fourth, colloquial; the fifth, illogical; the sixth, slang once more.
And yet the meaning is plain and unambiguous, even though no word passes
accepted English standards. Luckily, American speech means more than
this. America has added to the language, in making it its own, such
words as _blaze_ (a trail), _blizzard_, _back number_, _back-bone_,
_barber shop_, _barroom_, _beeline_, _belittle_, _bleachers_,
_blinders_, _bloomers_, _blue laws_, _bluff_, _bob-sled_, _bogus_,
_boom_, _boost_, _brainy_, _brief_ (lawyers), _bully_ (adj.), _campus_,
_cave in_, _cocktail_, _commuter_, _contraband_, _crib_, _cow-catcher_,
_crawfish_, _derail_, _diggings_, _dipper_, _doughnut_, _dovetail_,
_fizzle out_, _grit_ (courage), _make good_, _joyride_, _maverick_,
_shyster_, _scalawag_, _snap_, _splurge_, _spree_, _spry_, _wilt_,
_whole-souled_, _yegg_, among thousands of others. Her new political
terms are innumerable; in every walk of life she creates her own speech.
These are live words, rich in soil-tang and the glow of health. It would
be an evil hour if we relied on England for our speech. But the study of
our words, embalmed in English and other tongues, including the
earliest, is a helpful and informative way of broadening our own
understanding, and adding to the speech of our maturing soul.
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).