The American Language: A Preliminary Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States — John Shaqi
The American Language: A Preliminary Inquiry into the Development of English in the United StatesMencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)
General
The American Language: A Preliminary Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)
Americanisms; English language; Names -- United States; Names, Personal -- United States
f. "Certain colloquial phrases, apparently idiomatic, and very
expressive," as /to cave in/, /to flare up/, /to flunk out/, /to
fork over/, /to hold on/, /to let on/, /to stave off/, /to take
on/.
g. Intensives, "often a matter of mere temporary fashion," as
/dreadful/, /mighty/, /plaguy/, /powerful/.
h. "Certain verbs expressing one's state of mind, but partially
or timidly," as /to allot upon/ (for /to count upon/), /to
calculate/, /to expect/ (/to think/ or /believe/), /to guess/,
/to reckon/.
i. "Certain adjectives, expressing not only quality, but one's
subjective feelings in regard to it," as /clever/, /grand/,
/green/, /likely/, /smart/, /ugly/.
j. Abridgments, as /stage/ (for /stage-coach/), /turnpike/ (for
/turnpike-road/), /spry/ (for /sprightly/), /to conduct/ (for
/to conduct one's self/).
k. "Quaint or burlesque terms," as to /tote/, /to yank/;
/humbug/, /loafer/, /muss/, /plunder/ (for /baggage/), /rock/
(for /stone/).
l. "Low expressions, mostly political," as /slangwhanger/, /loco
foco/, /hunker/; /to get the hang of/.
m. "Ungrammatical expressions, disapproved by all," as /do
don't/, /used to could/, /can't come it/, /Universal preacher/
(for /Universalist/), /there's no two ways about it/.
Elwyn, in 1859, attempted no classification.[59] He confined his
glossary to archaic English words surviving in America, and sought
only to prove that they had come down "from our remotest ancestry" and
were thus undeserving of the reviling [Pg032] lavished upon them by
English critics. Schele de Vere, in 1872, followed Bartlett, and
devoted himself largely to words borrowed from the Indian dialects,
and from the French, Spanish and Dutch. But Farmer, in 1889,[60]
ventured upon a new classification, prefacing it with the following
definition:
An Americanism may be defined as a word or phrase, old or new,
employed by general or respectable usage in America in a way not
sanctioned by the best standards of the English language. As a matter
of fact, however, the term has come to possess a wider meaning, and
it is now applied not only to words and phrases which can be so
described, but also to the new and legitimately born words adapted to
the general needs and usages, to the survivals of an older form of
English than that now current in the mother country, and to the racy,
pungent vernacular of Western life.
He then proceeded to classify his materials thus:
1. Words and phrases of purely American derivation, embracing words
originating in:
a. Indian and aboriginal life.
b. Pioneer and frontier life.
c. The church.
d. Politics.
e. Trades of all kinds.
f. Travel, afloat and ashore.
2. Words brought by colonists, including:
a. The German element.
b. The French.
c. The Spanish.
d. The Dutch.
e. The negro.
f. The Chinese.
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