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Read Ebook: Slang and cant in Jerome K. Jerome's works by Bosson Olof E
Font size: Background color: Text color: Add to tbrJar First Page Next PageEbook has 335 lines and 16542 words, and 7 pagesPreface 5 Bibliography: Chronological list of Jerome K. Jerome's Works 8 Introduction 9 A Grammatical Survey 17 Slang 31 Slang > Colloquial English 37 Vulgarism or Cant 45 Vulgarism > Colloquial English 67 Index 79 PREFACE Concerning a subject so changeable as cant and slang, it is evidently of importance to know the acceptation of every expression at every period of the development of the language. As a matter of course, therefore, I have tried to discover, in the language of our author, the exact shade of sense of the different slang and cant-expressions, especially in cases where it does not coincide with the common usage, or where it concerns rare expressions. In order to contribute to the knowledge of the prevalence of the cant and slang-expressions, I have tried to indicate the social position, the sex, the degree of culture, etc., of the persons speaking; and, as far as possible, I have ascertained the history and etymology of my expressions, though, in this respect, my efforts have often been without success. A rather difficult point has been the classification of the expressions. The question whether a term may be regarded as vulgar or slang, or merely colloquial, is, in many cases, very debateable, as the opinions even of qualified judges concerning this matter are often divergent. In such cases, I have endeavoured to find a medium, founding my statements on the authority of cultivated Englishmen. I take the opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the University-Lecturer, Mr. CHARLES SCOTT FEARENSIDE, whose valuable assistance has been of great use to me throughout the course of my researches. I also beg to express my gratitude to Mr. SIDNEY CHARLESTON, University-Lecturer in Upsala, and to Mrs. GERTRUDE FAHLSTR?M, n?e PICKERING. Lund, October 6th, 1910. Bibliography. In the following list of Jerome's books, T. E. means < Miss Hobbs Woodbarrow Farm Prude's Progress Barbara Sunset Fennel Introduction. During the last years, a conspicuous interest--not only on the part of philologists--has been devoted to that strange outgrowth of language which prospers and develops, unrestricted by all literary traditions, in the easy, natural talk of uncultivated people and of certain groups and trades. This special language is, indeed, of real interest, and its study is of importance, not only as a matter of curiosity. The philologist has here ample scope for observations of different kinds. In the language of the uneducated 'vulgus', he will often meet with the first traces of an evolution which the literary and cultivated language will have to pass through in the future; on the other hand, he will recognize old forms and obsolete constructions which have passed out of use in the language of the cultivated. Concerning the development of the sense of words, as well as phonetic development, he will be able to make observations of great interest. It is supplied with an abundance of picturesque, amusing, and characteristic words, of surprising and original expressions, of terms constituting a spontaneous and striking manifestation of the speaker's thought at a certain moment. Every individual being allowed to speak his own natural language, character-drawing gains in veracity, literary description in freshness and variety. In one of Jerome's books , we come across the following little dialogue: >>Well, you know what I mean. What is the proper word? Give it me.>> >>If you will allow me the use of slang>> is a phrase often heard in English conversation; but in reality a considerable number of original slang and cant expressions are used without any special permission--often without the speaker's knowing it. There is--as in all languages, and in English much more than in any other--a constant flow from >>low class>> into >>high class>> language. A word or an expression, having been long in use exclusively among the working classes, or in the easy talk of certain trades, gradually penetrates into the colloquial speech of the cultivated--sometimes with a slight change of the sense--and suddenly appears one day in refined literary language. In actual English, there are many such expressions, originating partly from cant, partly from slang. When the average Englishman employs the word >>slang>>, he usually means all that he does not regard as >>correct>> English, all that sounds to his ears more or less vulgar. In reality, a certain confusion seems to have been long prevailing in English conception and English literature concerning >>flash>> and >>cant>> on one side, and >>slang>> on the other. Analogy plays an important r?le, and the anomalisms and divergencies are often of the same nature as those found in the language of children. The inflection is, accordingly, very much simplified, but, on the other hand, vulgar language has preserved several old forms which do not exist in the speech of the cultivated. The best way to study Cant and Slang is, of course, to listen to the speaking individual himself. But, for several reasons, this must, as a rule, be left to natural-born Englishmen. Another way is to study literature, especially the English and American humorists. Whoever has tried to make himself at home in this special branch of English literature has undoubtedly had some reason to complain of the insufficiency of the philological aids within his reach. He will often search in vain for the information he wants in the most detailed grammars; the dictionaries of slang and cant may stand him in good stead, but they are all insufficient, and they do not always agree with one another; in particular, their classification is very inconsistent and often erroneous. On the whole, it may be truly stated that this important part of the English language is, as yet, but imperfectly investigated. A GRAMMATICAL SURVEY As regards phonetics, Jerome's language shows us the usual characteristic alterations and abbreviations of vulgar speech. Anomalisms in the Conjugation of the Verbs. The effect of analogy is obvious in the following examples. I suggests . I answers . They sits . I comes . You comes . I says . I asks . I likes . I thinks . I does . She don't . 'E don't . Things as gets lost . They wasn't . There's no wages . It don't . One don't . It aren't . a-coming . a-pecking . a-siffing . a-going . a-collecting . a-blowing . Etc., etc. I stands respectful-like I see him sitting up like I was talking sarcastic-like ... he answers sulky-like ... says she, after considering-like more cheerful-like They met accidental-like < She don't get no better. 'E ain't never been his old self since then. I ain't no bloomin' Smythe. Etc. The lean girl said she had >>erd on me>>. The fat girl, seizing the chance afforded her, remarked genteelly that she too had >>heard hof me>>, with emphasis upon the >>hof>>. SLANG Avast! The term is much used by landlubbers who desire to get local colour cheap. Little-go nurse pater, mater The commonest familiar names for the parents on the lips of the average public schoolboy. plough ratty Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page |
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