DIOSYNCRASIES OF THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 74

DIOSYNCRASIES OF THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE.

A certain ing.onious shoeblack on the northern shore of the Lake of Geneva evolved some time ago a notice which conveyed to the passer-by the inf carnation jj

/ "English spoken; American understood." Eegarded as a stroke of humour it was distinctly happy, and it has since been copied m various different parts of the. Continent ; but there was also a good deal more sound sense in it than many people would imagine at first sight. For instance, a statement to the effect that there are able men "back of" a certain paper conveys beyond all question that, whatever msy be the nationality of the "able men," the compiler of the advertisement is an American. And, just as the American language, prefers "back of" to "behind," so it invariably uses the rather cli'msy-sounding . phrase "two weeks" in preference to the word "fortnight." 'An Englishman "expects to be at the station about 10 minutes to 12," while a Yankee "calculates to be at the depot" (pronounce in the Anglo-Saxon rather than the Gallic method) "at 10 minutes of 12.'* Having arrived there, he proceeds to "board ttoc car," while the Englishman is "getting into the carriage." An Englishwoman sets out in quest of a "shop," and has no other name for it, whether it be one small room 10ft sqiiaw or the many-storeyed establishment- of some "Universal Provider." An American woman describes the former simply as a "store." while the latter is described, not inaptly, as a "department store.'" On arrival there the English girl proceeds to buy a "blouse," while the Newyorkabe is busy at the same counter purchasing a "shirt-waist." An Englishman sends a postcard to say that he is ill, and cannot keep his engagement to go with you fco a music hall in tli; evening. In similar circumstances the Yankee sends a "postal" to say that he is 'sick' i(which .is, of course, good old Elizabethan English), and guesses he cannot accompany you to the "vaudeville." One very curious point about these subtle differences in the two languages is that where we use a short word they prefer a long one. and #Rce-versa. For instance, we speak of the "autumn" ; they invariably use the word "fall." We go up in the "lift" ; they take the "elevator." The English baby goes out in a "perambulator" ; the American infant takes the air in a "push-cart" or "push-waggon." It is. however, of course, in thp matter of slanc; that the differences are the most striking and often most unintelligible. An Englishman sums up his enthusiasm in the word "keen," where an American employs the word "crazy" for the same purpose. An English girl is "awfully amused" •at something which causes her American sister to declare that she is "just tickled to death !" One of the most misleading American phrases is "quite a little," -nrhieh means "a good deal," whereas in English it would be usually interpreted literally. The cryptic phrase, "a lead-pipe cinch," means what an English racing man calls "a dead cert" ; and it is interesting to compare the French slang word "tuyau," which is used in exactly the same sense. A word frequently employed by Americans that is quite unknown to most English people is the word "stunt," in the sense of a difficult achievement. Originally it was used as a verb, meaning to "dare" anyone to do a thing-; it is now commonly used to mean the thing done, as the result of such a challenge.