If the opportunity offers in future I shall undoubtedly return to the subject. For one thing, I am eager to attempt a more scientific examination of the grammar of the American vulgar speech, here discussed briefly in Chapter VI. For another thing, I hope to make further inquiries into the subject of American surnames of non-English origin. Various other fields invite. No historical study of American pronunciation exists; the influence of German, Irish-English, Yiddish and other such immigrant dialects upon American has never been investigated; there is no adequate treatise on American geographical names. Contributions of materials and suggestions for a possible revised edition of the present book will reach me if addressed to me in care of the publisher at 220 West Forty-second Street, New York. I shall also be very grateful for the correction of errors, some perhaps typographical but others due to faulty information or mistaken judgment. In conclusion I borrow a plea in confession and avoidance from Ben Jonson's pioneer grammar of English, published in incomplete form after his death. "We have set down," he said, "that that in our judgment agreeth best with reason and good order. Which notwithstanding, if it seem to any to be too rough hewed, let him plane it out more smoothly, and I shall not only not envy it, but in the behalf of my country most heartily thank him for so great a benefit; hoping that I shall be thought sufficiently to have done my part if in tolling this bell I may draw others to a deeper consideration of the matter; for, touching myself, I must needs confess that after much painful churning this only would come which here we have devised." MENCKEN. Baltimore, January 1, 1919. CONTENTS I. BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION, 1 1. The Diverging Streams, 1 2. The Academic Attitude, 4 3. The View of Writing Men, 12 4. Foreign Observers, 18 5. The Characters of American, 19 6. The Materials of American, 29 II. THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN, 36 1. In Colonial Days, 36 2. Sources of Early Americanisms, 40 3. New Words of English Material, 44 4. Changed Meanings, 51 5. Archaic English Words, 54 6. Colonial Pronunciation, 58 III. THE PERIOD OF GROWTH, 63 1. The New Nation, 63 2. The Language in the Making, 72 3. The Expanding Vocabulary, 76 4. Loan-Words, 86 5. Pronunciation, 94 IV. AMERICAN AND ENGLISH TODAY, 97 1. The Two Vocabularies, 97 2. Differences in Usage, 102 3. Honorifics, 117 4. Euphemisms and Forbidden Words, 124 V. TENDENCIES IN AMERICAN, 131 1. International Exchanges, 131 2. Points of Difference, 138 3. Lost Distinctions, 143 4. Foreign Influences Today, 149 5. Processes of Word Formation, 159 6. Pronunciation, 166 VI. THE COMMON SPEECH, 177 1. Grammarians and Their Ways, 177 2. Spoken American As It Is, 184 3. The Verb, 192 4. The Pronoun, 212