Pronunciation

Pronunciation—Noah Webster, as we saw in the last chapter, sneered at the broada, in 1789, as an Anglomaniac affectation. In the course of the next 25 years, however, he seems to have suffered a radical change of mind, for in "The American Spelling Book," published in 1817, he ordained it inask,last,mass,aunt,[Pg095]grant,glassand their analogues, and in his 1829 revision he clung to this pronunciation, beside addingmaster,pastor,amass,quaff,laugh,craft, etc., and evenmassive. There is some difficulty, however, in determining just what sound he proposed to give thea, for there are severala-sounds that pass as broad, and the two main ones differ considerably. One appears inall, and may be called theaw-sound. The other is inart, and may be called theah-sound. A quarter of a century later Richard Grant White distinguished between the two, and denounced the former as "a British peculiarity." Frank H. Vizetelly, writing in 1917, still noted the difference, particularly in such words asdaunt,saunterandlaundry. It is probable that Webster, in most cases, intended to advocate theah-sound, as infather, for this pronunciation now prevails in New England. Even there, however, theaoften drops to a point midway betweenahandaa, though never actually descending to the flataa, as inan,atandanatomy.

But the imprimatur of the Yankee Johnson was not potent enough to stay the course of nature, and, save in New England, the flataswept the country. He himself allowed it instampandvase. His successor and rival, Lyman Cobb, decided for it inpass,draft,stampanddance, though he kept to theah-sound inlaugh,path,dauntandsaunter. By 1850 the flatawas dominant everywhere West of the Berkshires and South of New Haven, and had even got into such proper names asLafayetteandNevada.[41]

Webster failed in a number of his other attempts to influence American pronunciation. His advocacy ofdeeffordeafhad popular support while he lived, and he dredged up authority for it out of Chaucer and Sir William Temple, but the present pronunciation gradually prevailed, thoughdeefremains familiar in the common speech. Joseph E. Worcester and other rival lexicographers stood against many of his pronunciations, and he took the field against them in the prefaces to the successive editions of his spelling-books. Thus, in that to "The Elementary Spelling[Pg096]Book," dated 1829, he denounced the "affectation" of inserting ay-sound before theuin such words asgradualandnature, with its compensatory change ofdinto a Frenchjand oftintoch. The English lexicographer, John Walker, had argued for this "affectation" in 1791, but Webster's prestige, while he lived, remained so high in some quarters that he carried the day, and the older professors at Yale, it is said, continued to usenaturdown to 1839.[42]He favored the pronunciation ofeitherandneitherasee-therandnee-ther, and so did most of the English authorities of his time. The original pronunciation of the first syllable, in England, probably made it rhyme withbay, but theee-sound was firmly established by the end of the eighteenth century. Toward the middle of the following century, however, there arose a fashion of anai-sound, and this affectation was borrowed by certain Americans. Gould, in the 50's, put the question, "Why do you sayi-ther andni-ther?" to various Americans. The reply he got was: "The words are so pronounced by the best-educated people in England." This imitation still prevails in the cities of the East. "All of us," says Lounsbury, "are privileged in these latter days frequently to witness painful struggles put forth to give to the first syllable of these words the sound ofiby those who have been brought up to give it the sound ofe. There is apparently an impression on the part of some that such a pronunciation establishes on a firm foundation an otherwise doubtful social standing."[43]But the vast majority of Americans continue to sayee-therand noteye-ther. White and Vizetelly, like Lounsbury, argue that they are quite correct in so doing. The use ofeye-ther, says White, is no more than "a copy of a second-rate British affectation."

FOOTNOTES:[1]In Studies in History; Boston, 1884.[2]Benson J. Lossing: Our Country....; New York, 1879.[3]The thing went, indeed, far beyond mere hope. In 1812 a conspiracy was unearthed to separate New England from the republic and make it an English colony. The chief conspirator was one John Henry, who acted under the instructions of Sir John Craig, Governor-General of Canada.[4]Maine was not separated from Massachusetts until 1820.[5]VideAndrew Jackson...., by William Graham Sumner; Boston, 1883, pp. 2-10.[6]Indiana and Illinois were erected into territories during Jefferson's first term, and Michigan during his second term. Kentucky was admitted to the union in 1792, Tennessee in 1796, Ohio in 1803. Lewis and Clark set out for the Pacific in 1804. The Louisiana Purchase was ratified in 1803, and Louisiana became a state in 1812.[7]Barrett Wendell: A Literary History of America; New York, 1900.[8]"In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue?"Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1820.[9]Cf.As Others See Us, by John Graham Brooks; New York, 1908, ch. vii. Also, The Cambridge History of American Literature, vol. i, pp. 205-8.[10]Our Dictionaries and Other English Language Topics; New York, 1890, pp. 30-31.[11]It is curious to note that the center of population of the United States, according to the last census, is now "in southern Indiana, in the western part of Bloomington city, Monroe county." Can it be that this early declaration of literary independence laid the foundation for Indiana's recent pre-eminence in letters?Cf.The Language We Use, by Alfred Z. Reed,New York Sun, March 13, 1918.[12]Support also came from abroad. Czar Nicholas I, of Russia, smarting under his defeat in the Crimea, issued an order that his own state papers should be prepared in Russian and American—not English.[13]A Plea for the Queen's English; London, 1863; 2nd ed., 1864; American ed., New York, 1866.[14]J. R. Ware, in Passing English of the Victorian Era, says thatto burglewas introduced to London by W. S. Gilbert in The Pirates of Penzance (April 3, 1880). It was used in America 30 years before.[15]This process, of course, is philologically respectable, however uncouth its occasional products may be. By it we have acquired many everyday words, among them,to accept(fromacceptum),to exact(fromexactum),to darkle(fromdarkling), andpea(frompease=pois).[16]All authorities save one seem to agree that this verb is a pure Americanism, and that it is derived from the name of Charles Lynch, a Virginia justice of the peace, who jailed many Loyalists in 1780 without warrant in law. The dissentient, Bristed, says thatto linchis in various northern English dialects, and means to beat or maltreat.[17]The correct form of this appears to behallooorholloa, but in America it is pronouncedhollerand usually represented in print byholloorhollow. I have often encounteredholloedin the past tense. But the Public Printer frankly acceptsholler.VidetheCongressional Record, May 12, 1917, p. 2309. The word, in the form ofhollering, is here credited to "Hon." John L. Burnett, of Alabama. There can be no doubt that the hon. gentleman saidhollering, and notholloaing, orholloeing, orhollowing, orhallooing.Hellois apparently a variation of the same word.[18]Rough-neckis often cited, in discussions of slang, as a latter-day invention, but Thornton shows that it was used in Texas in 1836.[19]This use goes back to 1839.[20]Thornton gives an example dated 1812. Of late the word has lost its finaleand shortened its vowel, becomingscrap.[21]Cf.Terms of Approbation and Eulogy.... by Elise L. Warnock,Dialect Notes, vol. iv, part 1, 1913. Among the curious recent coinages cited by Miss Warnock arescallywampus,supergobosnoptious,hyperfirmatious,scrumdifferousandswellellegous.[22]E. g.,single-track mind,to jump the rails,to collide head-on,broad-gauge man,to walk the ties,blind-baggage,underground-railroad,tank-town.[23]Political Americanisms....; New York and London, 1890.[24]Gustavus Myers: The History of Tammany Hall; 2nd ed.; New York, 1917, ch. viii.[25]Knickerbocker's History of New York; New York, 1809, p. 241.[26]Extensive lists of such drinks, with their ingredients, are to be found in the Hoffman House Bartender's Guide, by Charles Mahoney, 4th ed.; New York, 1916; in The Up-to-date Bartenders' Guide, by Harry Montague; Baltimore, 1913; and in Wehman Brothers' Bartenders' Guide; New York, 1912. An early list, from theLancaster (Pa.) Journalof Jan. 26, 1821, is quoted by Thornton, vol. ii, p. 985.[27]Many such words are listed in Félix Ramos y Duarte's Diccionaro de Mejicanismos, 2nd ed. Mexico City, 1898; and in Miguel de Toro y Gisbert's Americanismos; Paris, n. d.[28]Prescott F. Hall: Immigration.... New York, 1913, p. 5.[29]Most of the provisions of this act, however, were later declared unconstitutional. Several subsequent acts met the same fate.[30]The majority of these words, it will be noted, relate to eating and drinking. They mirror the profound effect of German immigration upon American drinking habits and the American cuisine. It is a curious fact that loan-words seldom represent the higher aspirations of the creditor nation. French and German have borrowed from English, not words of lofty significance, but such terms asbeefsteak,roast-beef,pudding,grog,jockey,tourist,sport,five-o'clock-tea,cocktailandsweepstakes. "The contributions of England to European civilization, as tested by the English words in Continental languages," says L. P. Smith, "are not, generally, of a kind to cause much national self-congratulation." Nor would a German, I daresay, be very proud of the German contributions to American.[31]Videa paragraph inNotes and Queries, quoted by Thornton, vol. i, p. 248.[32]Thornton offers examples of this form ranging from 1856 to 1885. During the Civil War the word acquired the special meaning of looter. The Southerners thus applied it to Sherman's men.VideSouthern Historical Society Papers, vol. xii, p. 428; Richmond, 1884. Here is a popular rhyme that survived until the early 90's:Isidor, psht, psht!Vatch de shtore, psht, psht!Vhile I ketch debummerVhat shtole de suit of clothes!Bummel-zugis common German slang for slow train.[33]Jan. 24, 1918, p. 4.[34]Nevertheless, when I once put it into a night-letter a Western Union office refused to accept it, the rules requiring all night-letters to be in "plain English." Meanwhile, the English have borrowed it from American, and it is actually in the Oxford Dictionary.[35]The word is not in the Oxford Dictionary, but Cassell gives it and says that it is German and an Americanism. The Standard Dictionary does not give its etymology. Thornton's first example, dated 1856, shows a variant spelling,shuyster, thus indicating that it was then recent. All subsequent examples show the present spelling. It is to be noted that the suffix-steris not uncommon in English, and that it usually carries a deprecatory significance, as intrickster,punster,gamester, etc.[36]The use ofdumbfor stupid is widespread in the United States.Dumb-head, obviously from the Germandummkopf, appears in a list of Kansas words collected by Judge J. C. Ruppenthal, of Russell, Kansas. (Dialect Notes, vol. iv, pt. v, 1916, p. 322.) It is also noted in Nebraska and the Western Reserve, and is very common in Pennsylvania.Uhrgucker(=uhr-gucken) is also on the Kansas list of Judge Ruppenthal.[37]English As We Speak It in Ireland, 2nd ed.; London and Dublin, 1910, pp. 179-180.[38]"Our people," says Dr. Joyce, "are very conservative in retaining old customs and forms of speech. Many words accordingly that are discarded as old-fashioned—or dead and gone—in England, are still flourishing—alive and well, in Ireland. [They represent] ... the classical English of Shakespeare's time," pp. 6-7.[39]Pope rhymedjoinwithmine,divineandline; Dryden rhymedtoilwithsmile. William Kenrick, in 1773, seems to have been the first English lexicographer to denounce this pronunciation.Taysurvived in England until the second half of the eighteenth century. Then it fell into disrepute, and certain purists, among them Lord Chesterfield, attempted to change theea-sound toeein all words, including evengreat.Cf.the remarks underboilin A Desk-Book of Twenty-Five Thousand Words Frequently Mispronounced, by Frank H. Vizetelly; New York, 1917. Also, The Standard of Pronunciation in English, by T. S. Lounsbury; New York, 1904, pp. 98-103.[40]Amusing examples are to be found in Donlevy's Irish Catechism. To the question, "Is the Son God?" the answer is not simply "Yes," but "Yes, certainly He is." And to the question, "Will God reward the good and punish the wicked?", the answer is "Certainly; there is no doubt He will."[41]Richard Meade Bache denounced it, inLafayette, during the 60's.Videhis Vulgarisms and Other Errors of Speech, 2nd ed., Philadelphia, 1869, p. 65.[42]R. J. Menner: The Pronunciation of English in America,Atlantic Monthly, March, 1915, p. 361.[43]The Standard of Pronunciation in English, pp. 109-112.

[1]In Studies in History; Boston, 1884.

[2]Benson J. Lossing: Our Country....; New York, 1879.

[3]The thing went, indeed, far beyond mere hope. In 1812 a conspiracy was unearthed to separate New England from the republic and make it an English colony. The chief conspirator was one John Henry, who acted under the instructions of Sir John Craig, Governor-General of Canada.

[4]Maine was not separated from Massachusetts until 1820.

[5]VideAndrew Jackson...., by William Graham Sumner; Boston, 1883, pp. 2-10.

[6]Indiana and Illinois were erected into territories during Jefferson's first term, and Michigan during his second term. Kentucky was admitted to the union in 1792, Tennessee in 1796, Ohio in 1803. Lewis and Clark set out for the Pacific in 1804. The Louisiana Purchase was ratified in 1803, and Louisiana became a state in 1812.

[7]Barrett Wendell: A Literary History of America; New York, 1900.

[8]"In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue?"Edinburgh Review, Jan., 1820.

[9]Cf.As Others See Us, by John Graham Brooks; New York, 1908, ch. vii. Also, The Cambridge History of American Literature, vol. i, pp. 205-8.

[10]Our Dictionaries and Other English Language Topics; New York, 1890, pp. 30-31.

[11]It is curious to note that the center of population of the United States, according to the last census, is now "in southern Indiana, in the western part of Bloomington city, Monroe county." Can it be that this early declaration of literary independence laid the foundation for Indiana's recent pre-eminence in letters?Cf.The Language We Use, by Alfred Z. Reed,New York Sun, March 13, 1918.

[12]Support also came from abroad. Czar Nicholas I, of Russia, smarting under his defeat in the Crimea, issued an order that his own state papers should be prepared in Russian and American—not English.

[13]A Plea for the Queen's English; London, 1863; 2nd ed., 1864; American ed., New York, 1866.

[14]J. R. Ware, in Passing English of the Victorian Era, says thatto burglewas introduced to London by W. S. Gilbert in The Pirates of Penzance (April 3, 1880). It was used in America 30 years before.

[15]This process, of course, is philologically respectable, however uncouth its occasional products may be. By it we have acquired many everyday words, among them,to accept(fromacceptum),to exact(fromexactum),to darkle(fromdarkling), andpea(frompease=pois).

[16]All authorities save one seem to agree that this verb is a pure Americanism, and that it is derived from the name of Charles Lynch, a Virginia justice of the peace, who jailed many Loyalists in 1780 without warrant in law. The dissentient, Bristed, says thatto linchis in various northern English dialects, and means to beat or maltreat.

[17]The correct form of this appears to behallooorholloa, but in America it is pronouncedhollerand usually represented in print byholloorhollow. I have often encounteredholloedin the past tense. But the Public Printer frankly acceptsholler.VidetheCongressional Record, May 12, 1917, p. 2309. The word, in the form ofhollering, is here credited to "Hon." John L. Burnett, of Alabama. There can be no doubt that the hon. gentleman saidhollering, and notholloaing, orholloeing, orhollowing, orhallooing.Hellois apparently a variation of the same word.

[18]Rough-neckis often cited, in discussions of slang, as a latter-day invention, but Thornton shows that it was used in Texas in 1836.

[19]This use goes back to 1839.

[20]Thornton gives an example dated 1812. Of late the word has lost its finaleand shortened its vowel, becomingscrap.

[21]Cf.Terms of Approbation and Eulogy.... by Elise L. Warnock,Dialect Notes, vol. iv, part 1, 1913. Among the curious recent coinages cited by Miss Warnock arescallywampus,supergobosnoptious,hyperfirmatious,scrumdifferousandswellellegous.

[22]E. g.,single-track mind,to jump the rails,to collide head-on,broad-gauge man,to walk the ties,blind-baggage,underground-railroad,tank-town.

[23]Political Americanisms....; New York and London, 1890.

[24]Gustavus Myers: The History of Tammany Hall; 2nd ed.; New York, 1917, ch. viii.

[25]Knickerbocker's History of New York; New York, 1809, p. 241.

[26]Extensive lists of such drinks, with their ingredients, are to be found in the Hoffman House Bartender's Guide, by Charles Mahoney, 4th ed.; New York, 1916; in The Up-to-date Bartenders' Guide, by Harry Montague; Baltimore, 1913; and in Wehman Brothers' Bartenders' Guide; New York, 1912. An early list, from theLancaster (Pa.) Journalof Jan. 26, 1821, is quoted by Thornton, vol. ii, p. 985.

[27]Many such words are listed in Félix Ramos y Duarte's Diccionaro de Mejicanismos, 2nd ed. Mexico City, 1898; and in Miguel de Toro y Gisbert's Americanismos; Paris, n. d.

[28]Prescott F. Hall: Immigration.... New York, 1913, p. 5.

[29]Most of the provisions of this act, however, were later declared unconstitutional. Several subsequent acts met the same fate.

[30]The majority of these words, it will be noted, relate to eating and drinking. They mirror the profound effect of German immigration upon American drinking habits and the American cuisine. It is a curious fact that loan-words seldom represent the higher aspirations of the creditor nation. French and German have borrowed from English, not words of lofty significance, but such terms asbeefsteak,roast-beef,pudding,grog,jockey,tourist,sport,five-o'clock-tea,cocktailandsweepstakes. "The contributions of England to European civilization, as tested by the English words in Continental languages," says L. P. Smith, "are not, generally, of a kind to cause much national self-congratulation." Nor would a German, I daresay, be very proud of the German contributions to American.

[31]Videa paragraph inNotes and Queries, quoted by Thornton, vol. i, p. 248.

[32]Thornton offers examples of this form ranging from 1856 to 1885. During the Civil War the word acquired the special meaning of looter. The Southerners thus applied it to Sherman's men.VideSouthern Historical Society Papers, vol. xii, p. 428; Richmond, 1884. Here is a popular rhyme that survived until the early 90's:Isidor, psht, psht!Vatch de shtore, psht, psht!Vhile I ketch debummerVhat shtole de suit of clothes!Bummel-zugis common German slang for slow train.

Isidor, psht, psht!Vatch de shtore, psht, psht!Vhile I ketch debummerVhat shtole de suit of clothes!

Bummel-zugis common German slang for slow train.

[33]Jan. 24, 1918, p. 4.

[34]Nevertheless, when I once put it into a night-letter a Western Union office refused to accept it, the rules requiring all night-letters to be in "plain English." Meanwhile, the English have borrowed it from American, and it is actually in the Oxford Dictionary.

[35]The word is not in the Oxford Dictionary, but Cassell gives it and says that it is German and an Americanism. The Standard Dictionary does not give its etymology. Thornton's first example, dated 1856, shows a variant spelling,shuyster, thus indicating that it was then recent. All subsequent examples show the present spelling. It is to be noted that the suffix-steris not uncommon in English, and that it usually carries a deprecatory significance, as intrickster,punster,gamester, etc.

[36]The use ofdumbfor stupid is widespread in the United States.Dumb-head, obviously from the Germandummkopf, appears in a list of Kansas words collected by Judge J. C. Ruppenthal, of Russell, Kansas. (Dialect Notes, vol. iv, pt. v, 1916, p. 322.) It is also noted in Nebraska and the Western Reserve, and is very common in Pennsylvania.Uhrgucker(=uhr-gucken) is also on the Kansas list of Judge Ruppenthal.

[37]English As We Speak It in Ireland, 2nd ed.; London and Dublin, 1910, pp. 179-180.

[38]"Our people," says Dr. Joyce, "are very conservative in retaining old customs and forms of speech. Many words accordingly that are discarded as old-fashioned—or dead and gone—in England, are still flourishing—alive and well, in Ireland. [They represent] ... the classical English of Shakespeare's time," pp. 6-7.

[39]Pope rhymedjoinwithmine,divineandline; Dryden rhymedtoilwithsmile. William Kenrick, in 1773, seems to have been the first English lexicographer to denounce this pronunciation.Taysurvived in England until the second half of the eighteenth century. Then it fell into disrepute, and certain purists, among them Lord Chesterfield, attempted to change theea-sound toeein all words, including evengreat.Cf.the remarks underboilin A Desk-Book of Twenty-Five Thousand Words Frequently Mispronounced, by Frank H. Vizetelly; New York, 1917. Also, The Standard of Pronunciation in English, by T. S. Lounsbury; New York, 1904, pp. 98-103.

[40]Amusing examples are to be found in Donlevy's Irish Catechism. To the question, "Is the Son God?" the answer is not simply "Yes," but "Yes, certainly He is." And to the question, "Will God reward the good and punish the wicked?", the answer is "Certainly; there is no doubt He will."

[41]Richard Meade Bache denounced it, inLafayette, during the 60's.Videhis Vulgarisms and Other Errors of Speech, 2nd ed., Philadelphia, 1869, p. 65.

[42]R. J. Menner: The Pronunciation of English in America,Atlantic Monthly, March, 1915, p. 361.

[43]The Standard of Pronunciation in English, pp. 109-112.

[Pg097]toc

§ 1

The Two Vocabularies—By way of preliminary to an examination of the American of today I offer a brief list of terms in common use that differ in American and English. Here are 200 of them, all chosen from the simplest colloquial vocabularies and without any attempt at plan or completeness:

[Pg102]

§ 2

Differences in Usage—The differences here listed, most of them between words in everyday employment, are but examples of a divergence in usage which extends to every department of daily life. In his business, in his journeys from his home to his office, in his dealings with his family and servants, in his sports and amusements, in his politics and even in his religion the American uses, not only words and phrases, but whole syntactical constructions, that are unintelligible to the Englishman, or intelligible only after laborious consideration. A familiar anecdote offers an example in miniature. It concerns a young American woman living in a region of prolific orchards who is asked by a visiting Englishman what the residents do with so much fruit. Her reply is a pun: "We eat all we can, and what we can't we can." This answer would mystify nine Englishmen out of ten, for in the first place it involves the use of the flat Americanaincan'tand in the second place it applies an unfamiliar name to the vessel that every Englishman knows as atin, and then adds to the confusion by deriving a verb from the substantive. There are no such things ascanned-goodsin England; over there they aretinned. Thecanthat holds them is atin;to canthem isto tinthem.... And they are counted, not asgroceries, but asstores, and advertised, not onbill-boardsbut onhoardings.[3]And the cook who prepares them for the table is notNoraorMaggie, butCook, and if she does other work in addition she is not agirl for general housework, but acook-general, and nothelp, but aservant. And the boarder who eats them is not aboarderat all, but apaying-guest, though he is saidto board. And the grave of the tin, once it is emptied, is not theash-can, but thedust-bin, and the man who carries it away is not thegarbage-manor theash-manor thewhite-wings, but thedustman.

An Englishman, entering his home, does not walk in upon the[Pg103]first floor, but upon theground floor. What he calls thefirst floor(or, more commonly,first storey, not forgetting the penultimatee!) is what we call thesecond floor, and so on up to the roof—which is covered not withtin, but withslate,tilesorleads. He does nottakea paper; hetakes ina paper. He does not ask his servant, "is there anymailfor me?" but, "are there anylettersfor me?" formail, in the American sense, is a word that he seldom uses, save in such compounds asmail-vanandmail-train. He always speaks of it asthe post. The man who brings it is not aletter-carrier, but apostman. It isposted, notmailed, at apillar-box, not at amail-box. It never includespostal-cards, but onlypost-cards; nevermoney-orders, but onlypostal-orders. The Englishman dictates his answers, not to atypewriter, but to atypist; atypewriteris merely the machine. If he desires the recipient to call him by telephone he doesn't say, "phone meat a quarterofeight," but "ring me upat a quartertoeight." And when the call comes he says "are you there?" When he gets home, he doesn't find his wife waiting for him in theparlororliving-room,[4]but in thedrawing-roomor in hersitting-room, and the tale of domestic disaster that she has to tell does not concern thehired-girlbut theslaveyand thescullery-maid. He doesn't bring her a box ofcandy, but a box ofsweets. He doesn't leave aderbyhat in the hall, but abowler. His wife doesn't wearshirtwaistsbutblouses. When she buys one she doesn't say "charge it" but "put it down." When she orders atailor-made suit, she calls it acoat-and-skirt. When she wants aspool of threadshe asks for areel of cotton. Such things are bought, not in thedepartment-stores, but at thestores, which are substantially the same thing. In these storescalicomeans a plain cotton cloth; in the United States it means a printed cotton cloth. Things bought on the instalment plan in England are said to be bought on thehire-purchaseplan or system; the instalment business itself is thecredit-trade. Goods ordered bypost(not mail) on which the dealer pays the cost of transportation are said to be sent, notpostpaidorprepaid, butpost-freeorcarriage-paid.[Pg104]

An Englishman does not wearsuspendersandneckties, butbracesandcravats.Suspendersare his wife's garters; his own aresock-suspenders. The family does not seek sustenance in arare tenderloinandsquash, but inunderdone under-cutandvegetable marrow. It does not eatbeets, butbeet-roots. The wine on the table, if miraculously German, is notRhine wine, butHock.... The maid who laces the stays of the mistress of the house is notMaggiebutRobinson. The nurse-maid is notLizziebutNurse. So, by the way, is a trained nurse in a hospital, whose full style is notMiss Jones, butNurse Jones. And the hospital itself, if private, is not a hospital at all, but anursing-home, and its trained nurses are plainnurses, orhospital nurses, or maybenursing sisters. And the white-clad young gentlemen who make love to them are notstudying medicinebutwalking the hospitals. Similarly, an English law student does not study law, butthelaw.

If an English boy goes to apublic school, it is not a sign that he is getting his education free, but that his father is paying a good round sum for it and is accepted as a gentleman. Apublic schoolover there corresponds to ourprep school; it is a place maintained chiefly by endowments, wherein boys of the upper classes are prepared for the universities. What we know as apublic schoolis called aboard schoolin England, not because the pupils are boarded but because it is managed by a school board. English school-boys are divided, not intoclasses, orgrades, but intoforms, which are numbered, the lowest being thefirst form. The benches they sit on are also calledforms. The principal of an English school is ahead-masterorhead-mistress; the lower pedagogues used to beushers, but are nowassistant masters(ormistresses). The head of a university is achancellor. He is always some eminent public man, and avice-chancellorperforms his duties. The head of a mere college may be apresident,principal,rector,deanorprovost. At the universities the students are not divided intofreshmen,sophomores,juniorsandseniors, as with us, but are simplyfirst-year men,second-year men, and so on. Such distinctions, however, are not as important in England as in America; members of the university (they are called[Pg105]members, notstudents) do not flock together according to seniority. An English university man does notstudy; hereads. He knows nothing offrats,class-days,senior-promsand such things; save at Cambridge and Dublin he does not even have acommencement. On the other hand his daily speech is full of terms unintelligible to an American student, for example,wrangler,tripos,head,pass-degreeanddon.

The upkeep of board-schools in England comes out of therates, which are local taxes levied upon householders. For that reason an English municipal taxpayer is called aratepayer. The functionaries who collect and spend his money are notoffice-holdersbutpublic-servants. The head of the local police is not achief of police, but achief constable. The firedepartmentis the firebrigade. Thestreet-cleaneris acrossing-sweeper. The parishpoorhouseis aworkhouse. If it is maintained by two or more parishes jointly it becomes aunion. A pauper who accepts its hospitality is said to beon the rates. A policeman is abobbyfamiliarly andconstableofficially. He is commonly mentioned in the newspapers, not by his surname, but asP. C. 643a—i. e., Police Constable No. 643a. Thefire laddie, theward executive, theroundsman, thestrong-arm squadand other such objects of American devotion are unknown in England. An English saloon-keeper is officially a licensedvictualler. His saloon is apublic house, or, colloquially, apub. He does not sell beer by thebucketorcanorgrowlerorschooner, but by thepint. He and his brethren, taken together, are thelicensed trade. His back-room is aparlor. If he has a few upholstered benches in his place he usually calls it alounge. He employs nobartendersormixologists.Barmaidsdo the work, with maybe abarmanto help.

The American language, as we have seen, has begun to take in the Englishbootandshop, and it is showing hospitality tohead-master,haberdasherandweek-end, butsubaltern,civil servant,porridge,moor,draper,treacle,tramandmuftiare still strangers in the United States, asbleachers,picayune,air-line,campus,chore,scoot,stogieandhoodooare in England. Asubalternis a commissioned officer in the army, under the rank of[Pg106]captain. Acivil servantis a public servant in the national civil service; if he is of high rank, he is usually called apermanent official.Porridge,moor,scullery,draper,treacleandtram, though unfamiliar, still need no explanation.Muftimeans ordinary male clothing; an army officer out of uniform is said to be inmufti. To this officer a sack-suit or business-suit is alounge-suit. He carries his clothes, not in atrunkorgriporsuit-case, but in abox. He does notmissa train; helosesit. He does not ask for around-tripticket, but for areturnticket. If he proposes to go to the theatre he does notreserveorengageseats; hebooksthem, and not at thebox-office, but at thebooking-office. If he sits downstairs, it is not in theorchestra, but in thestalls. If he likes vaudeville, he goes to amusic-hall, where thehead-linersaretop-liners. If he has to stand in line, he does it, not in aline, but in aqueue.

In England a corporation is apublic companyorlimited liability company. The termcorporation, over there, is applied to the mayor, aldermen and sheriffs of a city, as inthe London corporation. An Englishman writesLtd.after the name of an incorporated bank or trading company as we writeInc.He calls its president itschairmanormanaging director. Its stockholders are itsshareholders, and holdsharesinstead ofstockin it. Its bonds aredebentures. The place wherein such companies are floated and looted—the Wall Street of England—is called theCity, with a capitalC. Bankers, stock-jobbers, promoters, directors and other such leaders of its business are calledCitymen. The financial editor of a newspaper is itsCityeditor. Government bonds areconsols, orstocks, or thefunds.[5]To havemoney in the stocksis to own such bonds. Promissory notes arebills. An Englishman hasn't abank-account, but abanking-account. He drawscheques(notchecks), not on hisbank, but on hisbankers.[6]In England there is a rigid distinction between abrokerand astock-broker. Abrokermeans, not a dealer in[Pg107]securities, as in ourWall Street broker, but a dealer in second-hand furniture.To have the brokers[7]in the housemeans to be bankrupt, with one's very household goods in the hands of one's creditors.

Tariff reform, in England, does not mean a movement toward free trade, but one toward protection. The wordGovernment, meaning what we call the administration, is always capitalized and plural,e. g., "The Governmentareconsidering the advisability, etc."Vestry,committee,council,ministryand evencompanyare also plural, though sometimes not capitalized. A member of Parliament does notrunfor office; hestands.[8]He does not make acampaign, but acanvass. He does not represent adistrict, but adivisionorconstituency. He never makes astumping trip, but always aspeaking tour. When he looks after his fences he calls itnursing the constituency. At a political meeting (they are often rough in England) thebouncersare calledstewards; the suffragettes used to delight in stabbing them with hatpins. A member of Parliament is not afflicted by the numerous bugaboos that menace an American congressman. He knows nothing oflame ducks,pork barrels,gag-rule,junkets,gerrymanders,omnibus bills,snakes,niggers in the woodpile,Salt river,crow,bosses,ward heelers,men higher up,silk-stockings,repeaters,ballot-box stuffersandstraightandsplit tickets(he always calls themballotsorvoting papers). He has never heard ofdirect primaries, therecallor theinitiative and referendum. Aroll-callin Parliament is adivision. A member speaking is said to beuporon his legs. When the house adjourns it is said torise. A member referring to another in the course of a debate does not say "the gentleman from Manchester," but "thehonorablegentleman" (writtenhon. gentleman) or, if he happens to be a privy councillor, "theright honorablegentleman," or, if he is a member for one of the universities, "thehonorable and learnedgentleman." If the speaker chooses to be intimate or facetious, he may say "my honorablefriend."[Pg108]

In the United States apressmanis a man who runs a printing press; in England he is a newspaper reporter, or, as the English usually say, ajournalist.[9]This journalist works, not atspacerates, but atlineagerates. A printing press is amachine. An editorial in a newspaper is aleading articleorleader. An editorial paragraph is aleaderette. A newspaper clipping is acutting. A proof-reader is acorrector of the press. A pass to the theatre is anorder. The room-clerk of a hotel is thesecretary. A real-estate agent or dealer is anestate-agent. The English keep up most of the old distinctions between physicians and surgeons, barristers and solicitors. A surgeon is often plainMr., and notDr.Neither he nor a doctor has anoffice, but always asurgeryorconsulting room. A barrister is greatly superior to a solicitor. He alone can address the higher courts and the parliamentary committees; a solicitor must keep to office work and the courts of first instance. A man with a grievance goes first to his solicitor, who theninstructsorbriefsa barrister for him. If that barrister, in the course of the trial, wants certain evidence removed from the record, he moves that it bestruck out, notstricken out, as an American lawyer would say. Only barristers may become judges. An English barrister, like his American brother, takes aretainerwhen he is engaged. But the rest of his fee does not wait upon the termination of the case: he expects and receives arefresherfrom time to time. A barrister is never admitted to the bar, but is alwayscalled. If he becomes aKing's Counsel, orK. C.(a purely honorary appointment), he is said to havetaken silk.

The common objects and phenomena of nature are often differently named in English and American. As we saw in a previous chapter, such Americanisms ascreekandrun, for small streams, are practically unknown in England, and the Englishmooranddownsearly disappeared from American. The Englishman knows the meaning ofsound(e. g., Long IslandSound), but he[Pg109]nearly always useschannelin place of it. In the same way the American knows the meaning of the Englishbog, but rejects the English distinction between it andswamp, and almost always usesswamp, ormarsh(often elided toma'sh). The Englishman seldom, if ever, describes a severe storm as ahurricane, acyclone, atornadoor ablizzard. He never usescold-snap,cloudburstorunder the weather. He does not say that the temperature is29 degrees(Fahrenheit) or that the thermometer or the mercury is at 29 degrees, but that there arethree degrees of frost. He calls ice watericed-water. He knows nothing ofblue-grasscountry or ofpennyr'yal. What we call themining regionshe knows as theblack country. He never, of course, usesdown-Eastorup-State. Many of our names for common fauna and flora are unknown to him save as strange Americanisms,e. g.,terrapin,moose,persimmon,gumbo,egg-plant,alfalfa,sweet-corn,sweet-potatoandyam. Until lately he called thegrapefruitashaddock. He still calls thebeetabeet-rootand therutabagaamangel-wurzel. He is familiar with many fish that we seldom see,e. g., theturbot. He also knows thehare, which is seldom heard of in America. But he knows nothing ofdevilled-crabs,crab-cocktails,clam-chowderoroyster-stews, and he never goes tooyster-suppers,clam-bakesorburgoo-picnics. He doesn't buypeanutswhen he goes to the circus. He calls themmonkey-nuts, and to eat them publicly isinfra dig. The common American use ofpeanutas an adjective of disparagement, as inpeanut politics, is incomprehensible to him.

In England ahackis not a public coach, but a horse let out at hire, or one of similar quality. A life insurance policy is usually not an insurance policy at all, but anassurancepolicy. What we call the normal income tax is theordinarytax; what we call the surtax is thesupertax.[10]An Englishman never livesona street, but alwaysinit. He never lives in ablockof houses, but in arow; it is never in asectionof the city, but always in adistrict. Going home by train he always takes thedown-train, no matter whether he be proceeding southward to Wimbleton,[Pg110]westward to Shepherd's Bush, northward to Tottenham or eastward to Noak's Hill. A train headed toward London is always anup-train, and the track it runs on is theup-line.Eastboundandwestboundtracks and trains are unknown in England. When an Englishman boards a bus it is not at astreet-corner, but at acrossing, though he is familiar with such forms as Hyde ParkCorner. The place he is bound for is not threesquaresorblocksaway, but threeturnings.Square, in England, always means a small park. A backyard is agarden. A subway is always atube, or theunderground, or theMetro. But an underground passage for pedestrians is asubway. English streets have nosidewalks; they always call thempavementsorfootways. An automobile is always amotor-carormotor.Autois almost unknown, and with it the verbto auto. So ismachine. So isjoy-ride.

An Englishman always calls russet, yellow or tan shoesbrownshoes (or, if they cover the ankle,boots). He calls a pocketbook apurse, and gives the name ofpocketbookto what we call amemorandum-book. His walking-stick is always astick, never acane. Bycordhe means something strong, almost what we calltwine; a thin cord he always calls astring; histwineis the lightest sort ofstring. When he applies the adjectivehomelyto a woman he means that she is simple and home-loving, not necessarily that she is plain. He usesdessert, not to indicate the whole last course at dinner, but to designate the fruit only; the rest isicesorsweets. He usesvest, not in place ofwaistcoat, but in place ofundershirt. Similarly, he appliespants, not to his trousers, but to his drawers. An Englishman who inhabits bachelor quarters is said to live inchambers; if he has a flat he calls it aflat, and not anapartment;[11]flat-housesare oftenmansions. The janitor or superintendent thereof is acare-taker. The scoundrels who snoop around in search of divorce evidence are notprivate detectives, butprivate enquiry agents.[Pg111]

The Englishman is naturally unfamiliar with baseball, and in consequence his language is bare of the countless phrases and metaphors that it has supplied to American. Many of these phrases and metaphors are in daily use among us, for example,fan,rooter,bleachers,batting-average,double-header,pennant-winner,gate-money,busher,minor-leaguer,glass-arm,to strike out,to foul,to be shut out,to coach,to play ball,on the bench,on to his curvesandthree strikes and out. The national game of draw-poker has also greatly enriched American with terms that are either quite unknown to the Englishman, or known to him only as somewhat dubious Americanisms, among themcold-deck,kitty,full-house,divvy,a card up his sleeve,three-of-a-kind,to ante up,to pony up,to hold out,to cash in,to go it one better,to chip inandfor keeps. But the Englishman uses many more racing terms and metaphors than we do, and he has got a good many phrases from other games, particularly cricket. The wordcricketitself has a definite figurative meaning. It indicates, in general, good sportsmanship. To take unfair advantage of an opponent is notcricket. The sport of boating, so popular on the Thames, has also given colloquial English some familiar terms, almost unknown in the United States,e. g.,puntandweir. Contrariwise,pungy,batteauandscoware unheard of in England, andcanoeis not long emerged from the estate of an Americanism.[12]The game known asten-pinsin America is callednine-pinsin England, and once had that name over here. The Puritans forbade it, and its devotees changed its name in order to evade the prohibition.[13]Finally, there issoccer, a form of football quite unknown in the United States. What we call simply football isRugbyorRuggerto the Englishman. The wordsocceris derived fromassociation; the rules of the game were[Pg112]established by the London Football Association.Socceris one of the relatively few English experiments in ellipsis. Another is to be found inBakerloo, the name of one of the London underground lines, fromBaker-streetandWaterloo, its termini.

The English have an ecclesiastical vocabulary with which we are almost unacquainted, and it is in daily use, for the church bulks large in public affairs over there. Such terms asvicar,canon,verger,prebendary,primate,curate,non-conformist,dissenter,convocation,minster,chapter,crypt,living,presentation,glebe,benefice,locum tenens,suffragan,almoner,deanandpluralistare to be met with in the English newspapers constantly, but on this side of the water they are seldom encountered. Nor do we hear much ofmatins,lauds,lay-readers,ritualismand theliturgy. The English use ofholy ordersis also strange to us. They do not say that a young man isstudying for the ministry, but that he isreading for holy orders. They do not say that he isordained, but that hetakes orders. Save he be in the United Free Church of Scotland, he is never aminister; save he be a nonconformist, he is never apastor; a clergyman of the Establishment is always either arector, avicaror acurate, and colloquially aparson.

In Americanchapelsimply means a small church, usually the branch of some larger one; in English it has the special sense of a place of worship unconnected with the establishment. Though three-fourths of the people of Ireland are Catholics (in Munster and Connaught, more than nine-tenths), and the Protestant Church of Ireland has been disestablished since 1871, a Catholic place of worship in the country is still achapeland not achurch.[14]So is a Methodist wailing-place in England, however large it may be, though now and thentabernacleis substituted. In the same way the English Catholics sometimes varychapelwithoratory, as inBrompton Oratory. A Methodist, in Great[Pg113]Britain, is not aMethodist, but aWesleyan. Contrariwise, what the English call simply achurchmanis anEpiscopalianin the United States, what they call theChurch(always capitalized!) is theProtestant EpiscopalChurch,[15]what they call aRoman Catholicis simply aCatholic, and what they call aJewis usually softened (if he happens to be an advertiser) to aHebrew. The English Jews have no such idiotic fear of the plain name as that which afflicts the more pushing and obnoxious of the race in America.[16]"News ofJewry" is a common head-line in theLondon Daily Telegraph, which is owned by Lord Burnham, a Jew, and has had many Jews on its staff, including Judah P. Benjamin, the American. The American language, of course, knows nothing ofdissenters. Nor of such gladiators of dissent as thePlymouth Brethren, nor of thenonconformist conscience, though the United States suffers from it even more damnably than England. The English, to make it even, get on withoutcircuit-riders,holy-rollers,Dunkards,Seventh Day Adventistsand other such Americanferae naturae, and are born, live, die and go to heaven without the aid of either theupliftor thechautauqua.

In music the English cling to an archaic and unintelligible nomenclature, long since abandoned in America. Thus they call a double whole note abreve, a whole note asemibreve, a half note aminim, a quarter note acrotchet, an eighth note aquaver, a sixteenth note asemi-quaver, a thirty-second note ademisemiquaver, and a sixty-fourth note ahemidemisemiquaver, orsemidemisemiquaver. If, by any chance, an English musician should write a one-hundred-and-twenty-eighth note he probably wouldn't know what to call it. This clumsy terminology goes back to the days of plain chant, with itslonga,brevis,semi-brevis,minimaandsemiminima. The French and Italians cling to a system almost as confusing, but the Germans useganze,halbe,viertel,[Pg114]achtel, etc. I have been unable to discover the beginnings of the American system, but it would seem to be borrowed from the German. Since the earliest times the majority of music teachers in the United States have been Germans, and most of the rest have had German training.

In the same way the English hold fast to a clumsy and inaccurate method of designating the sizes of printers' types. In America the simple point system makes the business easy; a line of14-pointtype occupies exactly the vertical space of two lines of7-point. But the English still indicate differences in size by such arbitrary and confusing names asbrilliant,diamond,small pearl,pearl,ruby,ruby-nonpareil,nonpareil,minion-nonpareil,emerald,minion,brevier,bourgeois,long primer,small pica,pica,English,great primeranddouble pica. They also cling to a fossil system of numerals in stating ages. Thus, an Englishman will say that he isseven-and-forty, not that he isforty-seven. This is probably a direct survival, preserved by more than a thousand years of English conservatism, of the Anglo-Saxonseofan-and-feowertig. He will also say that he weighs elevenstoneinstead of 154 pounds. Astoneis 14 pounds, and it is always used in stating the heft of a man. Finally, he employs such designations of time asfortnightandtwelvemontha great deal more than we do, and has certain special terms of which we know nothing, for example,quarter-day,bank holiday,long vacation,Lady DayandMichaelmas.Per contra, he knows nothing whatever of ourThanksgiving,Arbor,LaborandDecoration Days, or oflegal holidays, or ofYom Kippur.

In English usage, to proceed, the worddirectlyis always used to signifyimmediately; in American a contingency gets into it, and it may mean no more thansoon. In Englandquitemeans "completely, wholly, entirely, altogether, to the utmost extent, nothing short of, in the fullest sense, positively, absolutely"; in America it is conditional, and means only nearly, approximately, substantially, as in "he singsquitewell." An Englishman does not say "I will pay youup" for an injury, but "I will pay youback." He doesn't lookupa definition in a dictionary; he looks itout. He doesn't say, being ill, "I amgettingon well," but[Pg115]"I amgoingon well." He doesn't use the American "differentfrom" or "differentthan"; he uses "differentto." He never adds the pronoun in such locutions as "it hurtsme," but says simply "it hurts." He never "catchesup with you" on the street; he "catchesyou up." He never says "are you through?" but "have you finished?" He never usesto notifyas a transitive verb; an official act may benotified, but not a person. He never usesgottenas the perfect participle ofget; he always uses plaingot.[17]An English servant never washes thedishes; she always washes thedinnerortea things. She doesn'tlive out, butgoes into service. She smashes, not themirror, but thelooking-glass. Her beau is not herfellow, but heryoung man. She does notkeep companywith him butwalks outwith him.

That an Englishman always calls out "Isay!", and not simply "say!" when he desires to attract a friend's attention or register a protestation of incredulity—this perhaps is too familiar to need notice. His "hear, hear!" and "oh, oh!" are also well known. He is much less prodigal withgood-byethan the American; he usesgood-dayandgood-afternoonfar more often. A shop-assistant would never saygood-byeto a customer. To an Englishman it would have a subtly offensive smack;good-afternoonwould be more respectful. Another word that makes him flinch isdirt. He never uses it, as we do, to describe the soil in the garden; he always saysearth. Various very common American phrases are quite unknown to him, for example,over his signature,on timeandplanted to corn. The first-named he never uses, and he has no equivalent for it; an Englishman who issues a signed statement simply makes itin writing. He knows nothing of our common terms of disparagement, such askike,wop,yapandrube. His pet-name for a tiller of the soil is notRubeorCy, butHodge. When he goes gunning he does not call ithunting, butshooting;huntingis reserved for the chase of the fox.

An intelligent Englishwoman, coming to America to live, told me that the two things which most impeded her first communications with untravelled Americans, even above the gross differences[Pg116]between England and American pronunciation and intonation, were the complete absence of the general utility adjectivejollyfrom the American vocabulary, and the puzzling omnipresence and versatility of the American verbto fix. In English colloquial usagejollymeans almost anything; it intensifies all other adjectives, even includingmiserableandhomesick. An Englishman isjollytired,jollyhungry orjolly welltired; his wife isjollysensible; his dog isjollykeen; the prices he pays for things arejolly dear(neversteeporstifforhigh: all Americanisms). But he has no noun to match the Americanproposition, meaning proposal, business, affair, case, consideration, plan, theory, solution and what not: only the Germanzugcan be ranged beside it.[18]And he has no verb in such wide practise asto fix. In his speech it means only to make fast or to determine. In American it may mean to repair, as in "the plumberfixedthe pipe"; to dress, as in "Maryfixedher hair"; to prepare, as in "the cook isfixingthe gravy"; to bribe, as in "the judge wasfixed"; to settle, as in "the quarrel wasfixedup"; to heal, as in "the doctorfixedhis boil"; to finish, as in "MurphyfixedSweeney in the third round"; to be well-to-do, as in "John is well-fixed"; to arrange, as in "Ifixedup the quarrel"; to be drunk, as in "the whiskeyfixedhim"; to punish, as in "I'llfixhim"; and to correct, as in "hefixedmy bad Latin." Moreover, it is used in all its English senses. An Englishman never goes to a dentist to have his teethfixed. He does notfixthe fire; hemakes it up, ormendsit. He is neverwell-fixed, either in money or by liquor.[19]

The English usequitea great deal more than we do, and, as we have seen, in a different sense.Quite rich, in American,[Pg117]means tolerably rich, richer than most;quite so, in English, is identical in meaning withexactly so. In Americanjustis almost equivalent to the Englishquite, as injust lovely. Thornton shows that this use ofjustgoes back to 1794. The word is also used in place ofexactlyin other ways, as injust in time,just how manyandjust what do you mean?

§ 3

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