WAR CATCH WORDS

Evening Star, Issue 16625, 7 January 1918, Page 7

WAR CATCH WORDS

AMERICAMAKES SONGS.; ,' .-■Mr Frank Dilnot, the New York corresp6hdenfof the 'Daily Chronicle",' wsites: New York is struggling alnios-j; feverishly to produce phrases about the war. America, it is felt, is out of the running while she has no catchwords, and this hurts the national pride. There is no country so well aware of. its special gifts in speedy and pungent characterisation. ( It is felt, truly enough, that her very slang has an 'epigrammatic touch. Is she to .'be left behind those countries who, whatever their qualities, are not to bo compared with her swiftness in "condensation and description? That she will presently coin war words of her own cannot •be doubted; but just at present she is in the throes. Officialdom as well ae the public and the newspaper are all working hard-. The most prominent recruiting appeal, pasted in hugo letters on the hoardings, is as follows: It's not the man who cheers, .But he who volunteers, To whom all honor is due. Get in line; get a gun. The newspapers are torturing themselves as to the pet name for the American soldiers. Thev want something approximating to the British "Tommy." Many suggestions have been made. One is that they should be/called "Teddies." a reminiscent title which keeps in mind the services and ambitions of Colonel Roosevelt. Recently this has beon supplanted by the name "Sammies," derived, of course, from the national figure "Uncle' Sam." Neither has made a hit, though somo of the papers are persevering with the latter. There was a little shock tho other day when it was cabled that "Simmy" in rural districts of England meant silly, stupid, even something pertaining to the village idiot. Strong-minded journalists thrust the s\iggestion aside, however, and persisted with "Sammies." One ingenious correspondent has put forward the joint nickname "Sammy-Ted," but scorn bas_ been poured on him. Xot less strenuous than the search for names and phrases has been that for a popular song which shall equal 'Tipperary' or 'Keep the Home Fires Burning.' Here, too, there has been no absolute success hitherto. Experiments are still going on in the theatres and music halls. Perhaps the most popular to the present is ' Good-bye, Broadway! Hello, France" Recruiting' automobile vans, with a dozen or more soldiers, pull up at crowded centres like Times square or Madison square, and the lads in khaki roar out the chorus through megaphones to the people who gather round. The words run thus: Good-bye, Broadway! Hello, France 1 "We're ten million strong. Good-bye, sweethearts, wives, and mothers, It won't take us long. Don't you worry while we're there; It's for you we're fighting, too. So good-bye, Broadway! Hello. France. We're going to square our debt, to you. It goes with a swing and dash, and sounds a good deal better Jban it reads. Another one of the recruiters sing is 'Where Do We Go From Here?' The chorus is as follows :

Where do we go from here, boys? Where do we go from here?' Anywhero from Harlem to a Jersey City pier. When Pat would spy a pretty girl he'd whisper in her ear, 0 joy, 0 boy, where do we go from here? The peculiar excellence of this as a war ditty, it will bo observed, is, like that of 'Tipperary, 1 its complete irrelevance. On the other hand, a song that is going verv well indeed has a special war appeal. This is the refrain: Over there, over there, Send the word, send the word over there That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming, The drums rum4umroing everywhere. So prepare, say a prayer, Send the word to prepare, to prepare. We'll be over, we're coming over, And we won't be back till" it's over, over there.

There's a song devoted to the airship. Another involves tho name of the President:—

Let's all bo real Americans, Rea'y to do or die, For our-country shall be "r.*e, Though every man must fal'.; We>e suffered abuse 3, So now don't make excuses, But answer Mr Wilson's call. _ What is entitled tho ' Official Recruiting Song' has the following lines: It's your country, it'sHny country, With miHioas of rear fighting men; - It's your duty and my duty to speak with the sword, not the pen. If Washington were living to-day, With sword in hand he'd stand up atd say: "For your country and my country I'll do ifc all over again." It may not be very good poetry, hut the sentiment is beyond dispute.