American Language Supplement 2 (161 page)

4
French
chic
, stylish.

5
Never used for women’s garments

6
Apparently a Yiddish loan.

7
Ger.
schneider
, a tailor.

1
Yid.
schmus
, talk.

2
Most of these come from Lexicon of Trade Jargon. I am also indebted to The Glass Industry, by William Marks,
Dialect Notes
, Vol. I, Part VII, 1894, pp. 335–36.

3
French
tisard
or
tisart
, the door of a glass furnace.

4
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

5
These come mainly from Golf Gab, by Anne Angel,
American Speech
, Sept., 1926, pp. 627–33, and A Caddy’s Compendium, by Margaret Erskine Cahill, the same, April, 1937, pp. 155–56.

6
Associated Press dispatch from Jacksonville, Fla., March 15, 1946: “Professional Golfers Association tournament manager Fred Corcoran today coined a long-needed golfing term –
bat
, meaning one over par.”

7
Peter Tamony says in
Birdie
and
Eagle
, San Francisco
News-Letter & Wasp
, June 9, 1939, p. 5, that it came in
c
. 1908, at first as
bird
. It is denounced as an Americanism, now in use in England, in Golf, by Bernard Darwin,
Country Life
(London), April 27, 1940.
Bird
, in the sense of any person or thing of excellence, is traced by the DAE to 1842.

1
An Americanism. It came in with
birdie
.

2
The full vocabulary of golf would fill pages. Some of its terms,
e.g., stymie
, have got into the general speech. It has also engendered
African golf
, crap-shooting, and
barnyard-golf
, horseshoe-pitching.

3
The argot of nurses, interns and orderlies is mainly borrowed from that of their lords, the doctors, and hence runs to abbreviations,
e.g., GU
and
TB
, and cant terms designed to reassure patients,
e.g., lues
, syphilis, and
new growth
, cancer. The following come mainly from Hospital Talk, by Dorothy Barkley,
American Speech
, April 1927, pp. 312–14; Hospital Lingo, by Dorothy E. House, the same, Oct., 1938, pp. 227–29, and Lexicon of Trade Jargon. I have also borrowed a few from Berrey and Van den Bark, and am indebted to Dr. Kingsley Roberts, Mrs. Margaret R. George, Miss M. L. Hudson and Mr. John P. Trimmer.

1
From
primipara
. At subsequent deliveries she is a
multip
, from
multipara
, or a
para-two, three
, etc.

2
From
schizophrenia
.

3
The patients in tuberculosis sanitoria call taking the cure
chasing
. A hemorrhage from the lungs is
spilling rubies
. See
T. B
. Talk, by Anders H. Anderson,
American Speech
, Feb., 1935, pp. 77–78. Dr. William B. Bean, of Cincinnati, tells me that tuberculosis is called
jupe
in Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky.

4
These come from Hotel Slang, by William Stewart Cornyn,
American Speech
, Oct., 1939, pp. 239–40, and from Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

5
From
Simon Legree
.

6
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

1
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

2
Most of the terms following come from Furniture Lingo, by Charles Miller,
American Speech
, Dec., 1930, pp. 125–28. Those that are of German origin probably got into English through Yiddish.

3
Miller, just cited, believes that this word comes from the Hebrew. There is a Hebrew word,
beracha
, meaning a benediction. See Wonder Words, by Benjamin L. Winfield; New York, 1933, p. 20.

4
E. Jerome Ellison and Frank W. Brock say in Overstuffed Phoneys,
Today
, Jan. 16, 1937, p. 8, that
borax
comes from Ger.
borgen
, to borrow, to buy on credit. “This word,” says Winslow Ames (private communication, July 6, 1936), “now denotes through the furniture trade (and also in the architectural magazines) the flimsy, flashy sort of furniture that consists largely of molded ornaments stuck on veneered surfaces.” A store selling it is a
borax-house
.

5
Ger
machen
, to make, to effect, to perform.

6
Miller says that this is used by salesmen in the presence of the customer.

7
Ger.
schleppen
, to move, to drag.

8
Ger.
schmieren
, to smear, to grease.

9
Miller thinks it may come, not from Ger.
schmiss
, a blow, but from Ger.
schmitz
, also a blow. It is used, he says, “when it is discovered that a customer cannot make a sufficiently large down-payment, or when a salesman has misquoted a price to his disadvantage and can get rid of it only by discouraging the sale.”

10
Ger.
schneiden
, to cut.

11
Possibly from Ger.
schnucke
, a small sheep.

12
Ger.
schreien
, to cry out. The original verb, according to Miller, is also used as a noun, as in “Cut out the
schreien!
”

1
Miller calls this “a formation that originated from a decidedly vulgar expression in Jewish.… It has become so common that it is used freely, with no consciousness of its vulgar beginning.”

2
The object here, says Miller, is to get the aid of the second salesman when the first fears that he is not making headway. The relief man is usually introduced as the sales manager, general manager, or president.

3
Ger.
verlieren
, to lose. “It is employed,” says Miller, “when a salesman wants to let another salesman know that the latter’s presence is interfering with a sale.”

4
Edward C. Ames says in Note on
Suite, American Speech
, Dec., 1937, p. 315, that the pronunciation
sweet
sounds affected to most customers, and that salesmen wait until a customer uses it before using it themselves. Otherwise it is
soot
. See also Department-Store Salespeople and Shoe Clerks.

5
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

6
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

7
These come mainly from the glossary in Holy Old Mackinaw, by Stewart H. Holbrook; New York, 1938; Logger Talk, by James Stevens,
American Speech
, Dec., 1925, pp. 135–40; Timberland Terminology, by Orlo H. Misfeldt, the same, Oct., 1941, pp. 232–34; Paul Bunyan Talk, by Elrick B. Davis, the same, Dec., 1942, pp. 217–25; Rhymes of a Western Logger, by Robert E. Swanson; Vancouver (B.C.), 1943, pp. 49–56, and Logger-Talk, by Guy Williams; Seattle, 1930. Other authorities are listed in Burke, pp. 101–02. Some early Maine terms are in Joys and Perils of Lumbering,
Harper’s Magazine
, Sept., 1851, pp. 517–21. The argot of New Zealand loggers is in
Fiddlers, Ropies
and
Skiddies, New Zealand Free Lance
, Aug. 18, 1943. p. 7. I am indebted here to Mr. J. Heenan. I am also indebted to Miss Helen F. Northrup and to Messrs. Stewart H. Holbrook, James Stevens, Washington J. McCormick, Charles E. Brown, Carl B. Costello, Harold H. Sherley, Harold Russell, Fred Hamann, Paul Drus and John B. Martin.

1
From
caterpillar
, but now applied to all tractors.

2
Says a correspondent: “The first logger who heard an Easterner say
caulk
thought he was trying to say
cork
.”

3
Timberland Terminology, by M. Misfeldt, before cited, p. 233. See Supplement I, pp. 393–94.

1
Williams, before cited, p. 12. Says Davis, before cited, p. 217: “Lumberjacks call themselves
loggers
. To call them
lumbermen
is an invitation to a brawl. To a
logger
, a
lumberman
is a
sawdust-eater
down at the
macaroni-mills
.”

2
Used metaphorically to designate the street of saloons, flophouses, etc., frequented by loggers in town. Harvey C. Muldoon says in
Skid Road
, San Francisco
Chronicle
, Dec. 2, 1946, that the first
skid-road
was in Seattle, and that its vestiges are “more or less defined by the present Yesler way.” Other
skid-roads
are Trent avenue in Spokane, Howard street in San Francisco, and West Pender street in Vancouver.

3
From
snooser
, the logger’s term for a Scandinavian. The snuff was introduced by Scandinavians, and is very peppery. It is chewed, not snuffed.

4
Abnaki Indian
waniigan
, a trap. Traced by the DAE to 1848.

5
From Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

6
The following terms come from Mining Town Terms, by Joseph and Michael Lopushansky,
American Speech
, June, 1929, pp. 368–74; Lingo – Mine Run,
Writer’s Digest
, Nov., 1941, pp. 28–29; Glossary of Current and Common Mining Terms, issued by the Bituminous Coal Institute, revised edition; Washington, 1947, and Lexicon of Trade Jargon. I am indebted here to Miss Virginia Allen, Eric Bender and Fred Hamann.

1
Formerly actual canaries were used.

2
These come from The Lingo of the Mining Camp, by Helen L. Moore,
American Speech
, Nov., 1926, pp. 86–88; Mining Expressions Used in Colorado, by Levette J. Davidson, the same, Dec., 1929, pp. 144–47; Mining Jargon in Nevada: A Guide to the Silver State; Portland (Ore.), n. d., pp. 58–63; The Folklore, Customs and Traditions of the Butte Miner, by Wayland D. Hand,
California Folklore Quarterly
, Jan., 1946, pp. 1–25, and April, 1946, pp. 153–78, and Lexicon of Trade Jargon. The vocabulary of the early California miners is dealt with at length in California Gold-Rush English, by Marian Hamilton,
American Speech
, Aug., 1932, pp. 423–33. They gave the general speech many terms,
e.g., prospector, to pan out, to make a stake, to grubstake, hard-pan, paydirt
and
claim-jumper
, and popularized many others that they did not invent,
e.g., gulch, jim-jams, canyon
and
tenderfoot
.

1
The following list is mainly based on Derrick Jargon, by Winifred Sanford and Clyde Jackson,
Southwest Review
, Spring, 1934, pp. 335–45; Language of the California Oil Fields, by Frederick R. Pond,
American Speech
, April, 1932, pp. 261–72; Oklahoma; a Guide to the Sooner State; Norman (Okla.), 1941, pp. 121–22, and Pipe Line Terms, by Leon Hines,
American Speech
, Dec., 1942, p. 280. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Lawrence E. Smith, of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, for revising my first draft and making additions to it, and also to Messrs. T. W. Archer, Fred Hamann, Miles Hart and Alfred M. Landon.

1
Robert Shafer says in The Origin of
Basic Sediment, American Speech
, Oct., 1945, p. 238, that
B. S
. originally had its usual vulgar significance, but that
basic sediment
was substituted when oil-men began to grow refined.

2
See
Cat Cracker
and
Cat Plant
, by M. M. S.,
American Speech
, Feb., 1944, p. 46.

3
See
Doodlebugs
, by Mody C. Boatwright,
Lamp
, Aug., 1946, pp. 10–11.

4
Almost obsolete. Chemicals now do the work.

1
Pronounced
tower
. Formerly it was twelve hours, but now it is eight. See
afternoon, daylight
and
graveyard
.

2
The DAE’s first example is dated 1903, but
wildcatting
, the verb, is traced to 1883.

3
From Language of the Livestock Market, by Russell F. Prescott,
American Speech
, Dec., 1935, pp. 269–72; How They Talk in the Stockyards, by A. A. Imberman, Baltimore
Evening Sun
(editorial page), Dec. 15, 1939; Words From South Omaha, by Rudolph Umland,
American Speech
, Oct., 1041, pp. 235–36, and Lexicon of Trade Jargon.

1
I am indebted for most of these to Mr. A. Aubrey Bodine, chief of the photographic department of the Baltimore
Sunpapers
, and Mr. Jack Price, photo editor of the
Editor & Publisher
. The rest come from Slanguage of the Amateur Photographer, by Robert Johnston,
American Speech
, Dec., 1940, pp. 357–60, and More Jargon of the Amateur Photographer, by Gene Bradley, the same, Dec., 1941, pp. 316–17.

2
R. L. Simon says in Miniature Photography; New York, 1937, p. 16, that the term was invented by a San Francisco news photographer in 1925. The first
candid camera
in wide use was the German Leica.

3
Mr. Jack Price, before cited, says that it was launched
c
. 1912 by James Kane. of the New York
Journal
. He took a photograph of an actress seated on the rail of an incoming steamship, and discovered on developing it that it included more of her person than either he or she had suspected. “That,” he exclaimed, “is what I call real
cheese-cake
” – a favorite New York sweet. Other accounts ascribe the coinage of the term to Joe Marsland,
c
. 1925. Discussions of it are in
Time
, Sept. 17, 1934, p. 30;
Broadside
, July, 1943, p. 1;
Saturday Review of Literature
, June 24, 1944, p. 22; and
American Notes & Queries
, Sept., 1945, p. 88; Nov., 1945, p. 123; Jan., 1946, p. 155, and Feb., 1946, p. 172.

4
The usual plan is to pull the slide but not spring the shutter. Mr. Jack Price, before cited, tells me that this device was invented
c
. 1913 by Wade Mountfort, a New York ship-news photographer much afflicted by bogus French noblemen on incoming ships.