A NEW TONGUE

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 75, 26 September 1932, Page 8

A NEW TONGUE

AMERICAN LANGUAGE

CHANGES FROM ENGLISH

SOME EXOTIC WORDS

It is a Tather curious fact that while much American slang gains currency in England, it is not generally realised that the uso of English itself is undergoing great changes in America, writes John Blunt in the "Daily Mail." And yet this is. true to such an extent that the language of even cultivated Americans has a slightly exotic flavour, while certain words are positively incomprehensible without the context.

Who, for instance, could tell that a "commuter" was a season-ticket holder—that is to say, one who commutes his daily fare for another system of payment; that "rare" as applied to meat, means underdone (doubtless from raw) that "wild," also applied 'to meat, means rank—"before you cook a 'possum you must cut out the wild meat"; that an "interne" is the resident physician of a hospital; that a "tuxedo" is a dinner-jacket■ that a "transient" is a person who makes a brief stay in an hotel; that "truck farming" is market gardening• and that a "realtor" is a man who deals in real estate.

Certain- adjectives have developed new shades of meaning. Thus a "homely" woman may mean a plaiD woman, while a "lovely" woman,may mean simply a woman whose conduct commends itself. On the other hand, "good-looking" may bo used of things as well as of persons—-" what a goodlooking suit you're wearing," while "ordinary," in its application to people, implies' common. The deriva tion of this last word is simple: ordin-' ary equals common and common equals vulgar. Furthermore,, "dumb" may be stupid and "mean "(may be nasty— "he gave me a mean glance." ODD CHANGES. Some American terms are at first very misleading to an Englishman. To quote; the chairman of a company is its" "president," while its managing director is its "chairman." Again! a _ c'cracker" : is a biscuit, but a "biscuit", is a scone. .And though socksuspenders are "garters," braces are "suspenders." When you enter a restaurant you "cheek" your hat and when you want to pay the bill you ask for a "cheek." , '■- A dollar note, incidentally, is a dollar "bill," and thus you pay your restaurant "checks" with "bills " which sounds rather odd, as-you pay your household bills with checks (not cheques). . :

_ Yes, tho English language in America is undoubtedly taking on a national tinge.>and it\is interesting to.see the new significance which some words have acquired. For, example, to "despise" is frequently only to dislike. Again, as a provincialism, "lunch'? may be supper, aad all over the country a "workhouse" is a prison for minor offences.

But the most elastic word in America is "fix"; it may mean endless different things according to the context. You "fix, the dinner,, meaning that you prepare it, and ybu "fix" the stovo on which it is cooked, meaning that you mend it. . And perhaps if the for whom you have done all this annoys you, you may finish by "fixing" him—which means that ho has to be mended also. A most useful word., > "'MOST EVERYBODY." ■ Sometimes the Americana use. longer words than wo do, and sometimes shorter. .There is no rule. Thus, while a tap is a "faucet," gum "mucilage," and a lift an "elevator?'; yet railway sleepers are "ties," strawberries' "berries" tout court; (raspberries, howover, are usually referred to as "red raspberries," as there is a somewhat tasteless variety of black raspberry); a full stop is a "period," and almost is frequently shortened to " 'most"— " 'most everybody was present." But if there is no custom governing the choice between long and :short words, it does look as if the "Americans had rather a fondness for using two or more words where we would use one. A woman does not say that she teaches but that she "teaches school"; you do not watch football, but a "football gamo"; a private in tho army is an "enlisted man" and in a restaurant one's fair companion is likely to discuss " crab meat" and "sea food." .-■•-.

: It is obvious that certain American usages have been determined by special circumstances. The country having been, for the most part, opened up by railways, it is natural that a railway should be called a "railroad," for in the- early days it fulfilled 'both functions. And as the word sorvant has a derogatory significance in. democratic America/, it is natural that a servant girl should be a " hired girl.'' In the same way, "sidewalk" for pavement is logical, as; very few American sidewalks' were paved in the olden time.. Similarly, it is reasonable to call an unmetalled road a "dirt road," because, owing to the severity of the American winters, such roads do degenerate into impassable mudheaps. STRANGE TO ENGLAND. For many words employed by us the Americans have substitutes, which, while perfectly comprehensible, nevertheless sound strange to English ears. Here, follow some specimens. A sittingroom is a "living-room; a lodger is a "roomer"; a charwoman is a "scrubwoman"; petrol is "gasolene," shortened to "gas"; a flat is an "apartment"; a holiday is a "vacation"; goloshes are "rubbers"; insects are "bugs"; a limited company is an "incorporated" company; situated is "located"; an undertake!?—a most important personage in America, where practically every corpse is cremated— is a "mortician"; and a veterinary surgeon is a "veterinarian."

Of course, many Americans still use the English forms of such words, but, nevertheless, the trend toward divergence is strongly marked. Hero' are some old examples: the last letter of the alphabet is pronounced - "zee"ajuminium is spelt "aluminum"; a small cup.of black coffee is a "demitasse" (a term1 unknown in France); and a. "drug, store" is not. only a chemist's shop, but a "lunch counter," a "soda fountain," and a bookshop/ Just as we probably uso certain words with frequency that would sound rather singular to an American, so do Americans- use certain words with frequency which are of relatively rare occurrence, in England. Politicians are always "scoring" their opponents, and\.,the head of any organisation, from the army and navy down, is the "ranking" member of it. Such terms as "moron," "debutante," and "relax" are fifty times more common in America than in England; while "sophisticated," in its special-meaning of smart and modern, is.beloved by.advertisers. It is even applied to such inanimate objects as ladies' hats, though how a hat can be sophisticated is quite a puzzle.

Slang is a fluid and self-conscious thing in every country, but language despite alien origins, is an autochthonous growth, representing the imponderable genius of the soil. And thus it may bo supposed that in centuries to come the English of the United States will diverge more and more from the English of England and become a juster mirror-of that something unique in the psychology of her people. It is quite to be desired, for so do nations give expression, to their personality.