COLLOQUIAL TONGUE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20656, 30 August 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

COLLOQUIAL TONGUE.

BY C.Q.N

IDIOM AND SLANG WORDS.

" Spong was a Bobby Dazzler right enough and Bassett's kick was ft Dinny Hazer.". So remarked my colloquial friend, who thus tempted mo to offer a few more observations upon tho vernacular. Now, who was this Bobby Dazzler of superlative excellence ? Possibly it is a coined name. Maybe it refers to the manner someone dazzled a " John Hop." I don't know. But there can bo no doubt about the fame of one Dinny Hays. And touching on football it is to bo noted that Now Zealand does not " Hip-hip-hip-hurrah," but " hiprays " at great speed. No waiting and no delay in our football. We do have a " hooray," however. It means " good-bye." Then, as a greeting we have, or used to have, " How the way 1" " Crook " is not a very euphonious word, but what a lot of duty it has to do! It may mean that one is-not well, or that a thing is counterfeit or bad. A crook shilling or a crook spin, otherwise a run of bad luck. " Spin " doubtless comes from the illegal game of two-up. In the Interests ol Respectability.

The colloquial tongue lias devised means for taking the edge off the disgrace attaching to drunkenness. It does not seem so reprehensible to be " stunned " as to be drunk. If one recklessly attacks too many " bowls " or " handles," or glasses of " hard stuff," he is engaged in a " stun up," and is liable to become " shot," or " shot to the wide." Often one who so errs is as " stunned as a cuckoo." The owl or the insect that lives on sheep no longer suffice. " Lit " is ft more modern term for alcoholic stimulation.

One " chucks " a stone, but if he " chucks off " ho is " giving slack," otherwise offering a jibe. Then lie runs the risk of being " plugged on tho jaw." But why " plugged " for struck ? It is also possible to get a " belt " on the jaw, though the belt of boxing is really tho lower legal boundary. " Put them up " used to bo tho old stylo of issuing a challenge for immediate acceptance, but now a man may bo invited to " step his frame out." If he doesn't ho may bo " told off," which surely comes from tho army. He is given " something to go on with." He may be advised to "go while the goin's good " or to " make himself scarce." The Oandld Friend. The aggressor in such a case has " gone off the handle." He has " ticked otl " the annoying person, otherwise " gono crook " or given a " tongue lashing." Later, probably, he realises that that " game's called in," that it's a " mug's game." " Mug " in this sense may havo come from Johnny Muggins," who does not appear to havo been a man of any great capacity.

Wo still havo " whips," meaning a generous quantity, but also " lashin's," meaning exactly tho same. It is not hard to trace tho connection.

If one " does a bunk " on a " prad " it means ono has " cleared out " on a horso without indicating oue's destination, otherwise "smoied for tho tall teatree." Tlioso who co so often are in fear of being committed to the " cooler " to " do time." A " skite " is a " blow hard," but ho never " gets away with it." Sometimes a friend may " tip him the wink " and he may " take a tumble to himself," but usually he " mags " too much. " Mag," ono supposes, comes from magpie. " One out of the bag " is "a Bobby Dazzler." Our estimable Mr. Half Back Corner was so described at the match. And so ho is, " too right " he is, a little " snorter " in fact, but that carries nothing of tho original suggestion. We are rather strong on the word " snorter." It is contrary to common ethics to " give tho show away " unless in the matter of practical joking. Then one, of course, " falls in." In such circumstances tho fourth form may bo heard chuckling that tho victim has had a " suck in." Possibly the term is suggested by the expression on the face of the victim. '* Rooster " is in active competition with " joker" to indicate tho nameless individual who crops up in conversation. The Sport of Kings. It is a desirable thing to be " in the know," which, I imagine, had its origin in horse-racing circles. They sometimes call it " getting tho oil." " Oil " is an importation unfortunately. To divulge a secret is to " split." The person who' does so doesn't know how to keep " his gate closed," or how to obey tho injunction to keep tho information " under his hat."

" Not so dusty " means very well or very good. Rather better, at all events, thun " fair enough/' " Mob " is commonly used for a group of individuals associated socially, by sport or by mutual interest. One may be asked to have a " squint " at something in a shop window but to " get an eyeful " of something of more than ordinary interest. If it is really surprising an apt comment is, " What do you know about that?" Notwithstanding the fact that the dairy farmer spends hours a day in milking, the terns " till the cows come home " is used to indicate a very lengthy period of time. A thing may last " till the cows come home," which may also indicate great endurance. One is lucky these days to have a " dollar " in one's " kick " and a spare suit of " clobber " in one's " port sammy." One ofton gets an extra pair of " strides" with a suit of clothes, which, when worn for the first time in certain circles, may prompt the question, " How'd yuh get like that?" If one lias made what appears to be a bad bargain in the eyes of one's intimates ho is informed that they " saw you coming." If one asks a question the answer to which is supposed to be obvious one should retort, " Ast yourself." Further, this friend would understand, if by way of greeting, you said " What do you know ?" You may be " scouting " round the town when you " barge " into an acquaintance who tells you some extraordinary piece of news that " knocks yon bandy." He may give you as a " moral " for a* race a horse that is a " tiger " in the mud, but as you did not " come down in the last shower " you declino to bet even though you are informed that some unknown body called the " heads " have it " set." When it wins you ought to have been "on " it. " Money from home " says your friend. " Hooray. See you again." And " that's that." But why " whip (ho cat" ? One is glad to hear another man's good luck. " Good-oh!" one says, to show that ono rejoices exceedingly. It is not suggested, of course, that these slang and colloquial expressions, or even (he majority of them, aro peculiar to Now Zealand, and that they all have a vogue hero in one quarter or another. Few people, indeed, are so precise as to avoid completely the use of sonio colloquialisms. Sometimes, however, when deliberately quoted by dignified people, they become absurd. For instance, a subordinate in a rather excited way was giving his judgment on a matter concluding with "then it would be all upski."Why would it be upski ?" said the chief. From his lips " upski " was impossible.