American Language Supplement 2 (158 page)

1
Nearly all of it in English before 1939 is listed in Burke, pp. 105–08. Works overlooked by Burke or published since include A Glossary of Sea Terms, by Gershom Bradford; New York, 1942; Sea Terms Come Ashore, by George Davis Chase,
Maine Bulletin
, Feb. 20, 1942; Perry Scope’s Seagoing Dictionary, by Harley F. Wight; Brooklyn (N.Y.), 1933; Argot of the Sea, by Orlo Misfeldt,
American Speech
, Dec., 1940, pp. 450–51; Sea and Navy Story Writer’s Guide, by H. F. Wright; San Diego (Calif.), 1936; Square-Rigger Relics in American Speech, by Nathaniel S. Olds,
Atlantic Monthly
, Sept., 1932, pp. 383–84; Sea Lingo Passing on Modern Liners, New York
Times
, Jan. 31, 1932, Sect. II, p. 8; Seamen’s Lingo, by Arthur Richter, New York
Times
, Aug. 29, 1943; On the Lingo of the Sea, Baltimore
Evening Sun
(editorial page), Sept. 1, 1943; Sticktown Nocturne, by H. D. Darrach, Jr., Baltimore
Sun Magazine
, Aug. 12, 1945, p. 1; Nautical Lingo, by H. Phipps Hemming, Newcastle-on-Tyne
Weekly Chronicle
, May 25, 1940; English Sea-terms in Words and Idioms, by Logan Pearsall Smith; London, 1925, pp. 1–27; On the Sun Deck, by Robert Wilder, New York
Sun
, April 10, 1937, p. 24; The Yankee Whaler, by C. W. Ashley; Boston, 1926, pp. 123–46;
Charley Noble, Ships
, June, 1943, p. 18;
Soogie, Soujge
, by M. S. Beeler,
American Speech
, April, 1944, pp. 151–52, and Vocabulary for Lakes, Deep Sea and Inland Waters, by Otis Ferguson, the same, April, 1944, pp. 103–111.

2
Many more are listed in Sea Language Comes Ashore, by Joanna Carver Colcord; New York, 1945.

3
The calls of the leadsmen on the Mississippi of its palmy days were in feet up to nine feet and in fathoms after that.
Mark twain
was two fathoms, or 12 feet.
Half twain
was two fathoms and a half, or 15 feet. On May 20, 1941 Mr. Albert K. Dawson, of the American Express Company, issued an interview with Captain Tom Greene, of the
Gordon C. Greene
, saying that these calls were then still in use on the Mississippi and its tributaries.

1
Erie Canal Colloquial Expressions, by Jason Almus Russell,
American Speech
, Dec., 1930, pp. 97–100; Some Quotations Supplementing the DAE, by Elliott V. K. Dobbie, the same, Dec., 1946, pp. 305–07; Snubbin’ Thro’ Jersey, by F. Hopkinson Smith and J. B. Millet,
Century Magazine
, Aug., 1887, pp. 483–96.

2
Its more seemly vocabulary is listed in A Port Dictionary of Technical Terms, published by the American Association of Port Authorities; New Orleans, 1940. See also Port Terminal Operation, by Eugene H. Lederer; New York, 1943. The less austere terms following come from Longshoreman’s Lingo, by John Alfred Knoetgen,
Encore
, Sept.-Oct., 1944, pp. 336–38, and the Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

3
Probably suggested by the fact that it is used to bring injured workers ashore.

1
I take these mainly from Shipyard Terms of the Northwest, 1944 Style, by Hal Babbitt,
American Speech
, Oct., 1944, pp. 230–32; Navy Yard Talk, by Jack G. Arbolino, the same, Dec., 1942, pp. 279–80, and Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

2
How long they will last remains to be seen. The bicycle gave us
scorcher, century-run, to back-pedal
and
pedal-pusher
and for years they were known to every school-boy, but now they are all obsolete, though the bicycle survives. The automobile vocabulary, in fact, has changed considerably since 1900. See The Horseless Carriage, by M. R. Eiselen,
Yale Review
, Autumn, 1936, pp. 134–47, and The Automobile and American English, by Theodore Hornberger,
American Speech
, April, 1930, pp. 271–78. Some of the differences between American and English automobile terms are listed in Supplement I, pp. 457–87. In the Motorists’ Companion, by John Prioleau; London, 1936, pp. 457–67, such terms are given in six languages, of which two are English and American. I am indebted here to Mr. Edgar Gahan.

1
I take these from Slang on Wheels, by Elliott Curtiss, Jr.,
Automobile Trade Journal
, Jan. and May, 1937; Kick-Ups and Jack Pads, by G. A. Kahmann,
News & Views
(General Motors), March, 1938, pp. 41 and 45; Lexicon of Trade Jargon; Super-Service Slang, by Nedra Karen Israel,
American Speech
, Dec., 1938, pp. 314–16; Detroit Automobile Slang, by Thelma James, the same, Oct., 1941, p. 240, and How to Buy a Used Car, by Martin H. Bury, revised edition, Philadelphia, 1940.

1
Current English Forum,
College English
, April, 1943, p. 439.

2
Jalopiana, Newark
Sunday Call
, Oct. 23.

3
Neal O’Hara in the New York
Evening Post
. Reprinted in New Words For Old, Baltimore
Evening Sun
(editorial page), May 17, 1938.

4
Margaret Ernst, in The Conning Tower, New York
Evening Post
, April 6, 1939.

5
Eddie Blass in the same. The French word is actually
chaloupe
. It means a form of water craft and has cognates in the Spanish
chalupa
, Italian
scialuppa
, German
schaluppe
and Dutch
sloep
. The NED traces it in English use to
c
. 1578.

6
Mexetao Sherover in the same.

7
Dilapidato
, by Elmer G. Smith,
Time
, July 26, 1937, p. 6.

1
Recurring Word, Edinburgh
Scotsmen
, March 1, 1941.

2
From an unpublished paper by Sergeant David M. Cleary, of the Field Artillery, 1942.

3
Jalopiana, before cited.

4
Jalopiana, before cited.

5
New York, 1921, p. 271.

6
Jitney
and
Jitneur
, by W. L. Werner,
American Speech
, Feb., 1934, p. 74. See also
Jitney
, by H. L. Mencken, the same, Jan., 1927, p. 214.

7
Feb., p. 73.

8
Comments,
American Speech
. Oct., 1933, p. 78.

9
Jitney
and
Jitneur
, lately cited.

10
Survival of
Jitney, American Speech
, Dec., 1934, pp. 315–16. See also AL4, pp. 86, 93, 189 and 263.

1
College Words and Phrases,
Dialect Notes
, Vol. IV, Part III, p. 233.

2
Terms or Disparagement in the Dialect of High-School Pupils in California and New Mexico, by Elsie Warnock,
Dialect Notes
, Vol. V, Part II, 1919, pp. 60–73.

3
Vogue Affixes in Present-Day Word-Coinage, by Louise Pound,
Dialect Notes
, Vol. V, Part I, 1918, p. 8.

4
Riding in a
Lizard
, by Mamie Meredith,
American Speech
, Aug., 1931, p. 465.

5
Cowboy Lingo, by Ramon F. Adams; Boston, 1936, pp. 44 and 102.

6
Air Words; Seattle, 1946.

1
Hamann says that this implement gets its name from its inventor, one Joyce, but Joyce is not identified and the etymology sounds improbable.

2
There are many lexicons of air argot, but Hamann’s, before cited, is the best. The earlier literature is listed by Burke, p. 109. An Encyclopedic Aviation Dictionary, by Charles A. Zweng; Los Angeles, 1944, defines mainly technical terms.

3
The Fifth Estate Vocabulary, by Julian T. Bentley,
American Speech
, April, 1937, pp. 100–02.

4
AL4, p. 559.

1
Radio Bandmen Speak a Strange Language, by Louis Reid, New York
American
, June 22, 1935; Swing Lingo in Radio Adds Color to Broadcasts, by Martin Codel, Worcester (Mass.)
Telegram
, July 9, 1938.

2
American Notes & Queries
, March, 1945, p. 192.

1
The Fifth Estate Vocabulary, before cited.

2
Fortune
, March, 1947, p. 175

3
In the Interest of Radio, St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
(editorial), April 10, 1945.

4
Advertisement of Columbia Broadcasting System, Feb. 26, 1944: “Call it
ség-we
or
ség-way
, not
ség-you
.”

5
Most of these come from Radio Alphabet: A Glossary of Radio Terms, edited by Gilbert Seldes, Paul Hollister and a dozen others and published by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1946. The early authorities are listed in Burke, p. 122. Other works worth consulting are Wireline Webster, issued by the Mutual Broadcasting System, June, 1945; Glossary of Commercial Terms, by J. J. Weed, in
Variety
Radio Directory, 1937–38; New York, 1937, pp. 353–58; Some Radio Terms, by John S. Carlile,
Fortune
, May, 1938, p. 54; Radio Vocabulary, by S. Stephenson Smith,
Quarterly Journal of Speech
, Feb., 1942, pp. 1–7; Radio Jargon, by William White,
Words
, Dec., 1941, pp. 97–101; A Study of the Vocabulary of Radio, by Donald E. Hargis,
Speech Monographs
, XII, 1945, pp. 77–87; Dictionary of Radio Terms; Chicago, 1940; Radio Slanguage, by K. W. Strong,
Better English
, March, 1940, pp. 118–19 and Radio Has a Word For It, by Doris McFerran,
American Mercury
, Nov., 1941, pp. 578–81. I am also indebted here to Messrs. Will A. Whitney, J. V. Koehler, Eldridge Peterson, Julian Street, Jr., Joseph Katz and A. K. Dawson. The gestures used in radio studios (speaking, of course, is forbidden) are illustrated in Radio Alphabet, above cited, and described in Lexicon of Trade Jargons, Vol. III.

1
Radio Alphabet, before cited: “[So called] because the early sponsors of these programmes were soap manufacturers.”

2
Video
Make-Up,
Variety
, June 19, 1946, p. 27.

3
Gobos
and
Gismos
, New York
Times Magazine
, March 3, 1946.

4
These come from Television Talk, issued by the National Broadcasting Company in 1946. See also The Words,
New Yorker
, Dec. 3, 1938, p. 20. The vocabulary of radar is in Radar Nomenclature,
American Speech
, Dec., 1945, pp. 309–10; Radar Language,
Newsweek
, Sept. 10, 1945, p. 92, and Radar, issued by the British Information Services, New York, 1945. That of amateur radio operators, or
hams
, is in
Ham
Slang, by R. D. Bass,
Words
, Dec., 1938, pp. 138–39, and Jan., 1939, pp. 10–12; and
Ham
Lingo, by Marion Fry,
American Speech
, Oct., 1929, pp. 45–49.

5
See Supplement I, p. 389.

1
Coined by Herb Stoeckel, of
Book-binding & Book Production
, New York.

2
Coined in 1940 by George E. Frazer, a New York accountant, and now used in the title of National
Transitads
, of which he is president. I am indebted here to Mr. Myron T. Harshaw.

3
The commonplace quality of these selections from the advertising man’s trade argot is compensated for by the lush fancy shown in the terms he invents for his clients, especially those who appeal to female patronage. Many of his names for colors, perfumes and articles of female adornment are borrowed from non-English languages,
e.g., brassière, dirndl, babushka
. See Ici on Parle—, by Marjorie H. Nicholson and Edith Phillips,
American Speech
, Feb., 1926, pp. 257–63; All the Perfumes of America, by Arthur Minton, the same, Oct., 1946, pp. 161–74, and The Language of Fashion, by Mary Brooks Picken; New York, 1939. He is also the progenitor of many euphemisms,
e.g., halitosis, B. O., D. O
. (dog odor),
tissue
(toilet-paper). His latest novelties are frequently noted in
American Speech
.

4
I take these from Aquarium English, by Ida Mellen,
American Speech
, Aug., 1928, pp. 460–63. Miss Mellen says that the aquarian folk call themselves
aquarists
. In England they used to be
aquarians
and in the United States some of them preferred
aquariist
, with two
i’s
, but
aquarist
now prevails in both countries.

5
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon, before cited.

1
See also Fruit-Drying Phraseology, by Ivy Grant Morton,
Writer’s Monthly
, Aug., 1928, pp. 104–05, and Apple-Picking Terms From Wisconsin, by F. G. Cassidy,
American Speech
, Feb., 1943, pp. 74–76.

2
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

3
French
calque
, a tracing or imitation.

4
These all come from Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Part I: Definitions of Titles, prepared for the use of “public employment offices and related vocational services” by the Job Analysis and Information Section, Division of Standards and Research, United States Employment Service, Department of Labor; Washington, 1939. This volume of 1287 double-column pages, printed on Bible paper, is one of the masterpieces of New Deal scholarship.

1
Jist
a shave.

2
All these come from Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

3
The most elegant bartenders’ organization is the International
Barmen’s
Association. But the A. F. of L. union is the
Bartenders’
International League of America, organized in Jan., 1892.

4
The origin of this term has been much debated. See Gem of the Prairie, by Herbert Asbury; New York, 1940, p. 172.

5
Going behind the stick
or
behind the plank
is going on duty.

6
I am indebted here to Lexicon of Trade Jargon and to Mr. Roy L. McCardell. The names of drinks are discussed in AL4, pp. 148–50, and Supplement I, pp. 252–69.

7
Most of these terms are taken from An Historical Dictionary of Baseball Terminology, by Edward J. Nichols, “a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy at the Pennsylvania State College,” Jan., 1939. This is an admirably accurate, comprehensive and workmanlike study. It has not been published save in abstract, but microfilms and full-sized photographs of the MS. are obtainable from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Mich. I have also made some use of Joe McGlone, Providence (R.I.)
Evening Bulletin
, Aug. 2, 1946, p. 30; Down in Front, by Richards Vidmer, New York
Herald Tribune
, June 7, 1941, p. 17; Baseball Guide and Record Book; New York, 1943, pp. 83–92; Gibberish, by C. M. Gibbs, Baltimore
Sun
, Jan. 31, 1935, and the Jargon of Sports-Writers, by Willis Stork; Lincoln (Neb.), 1934. Other papers on the subject are listed in Burke, pp. 115–16. I am indebted for friendly help to Dr. Nichols, Dr. Harold H. Bender, Messrs. Lawrence C. Salter, Fred Hamann, Leo C. Dean, H. Allen Smith, and A. H. Gurney, the late Dr. Logan Clendening, Dr. Victor Johnson, the late Admiral C. S. Butler, Medical Corps, U.S.N., and Messrs. Bill Bryson, Lloyd Lewis and Charles J. Lovell.