Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-11-01 | Page 12 | Fans will have to Learn French

rb WILL HAVt TO L FRENCH Soldiers Who Return After War Will Have Mixed 'Ling-o' of Ball Terms. It has probably never occurred to, the averago American that the American boya at the front, the majority of whom arc. filling in tholr spare the. if they, have any playing baseball, and teaching the French and English the game, are unconsciously absorbing many French expressions, which they will bring back with them when the war Is ovor. The BVench are taking to the gam like ducks to water, but art- having trouble in applying terms for the various parts of the game in their own lahguagea It is said that even the American boys, in an effort to help them out. are mixing in a lot of French words in the games they are playing in Kranee. Fred Barker, employed In the engraving department r.f one of Hie local papers until un-til he joined the army and went "over there," calls attention to this fact in a letter lo Milton Worsohktil. He near troislcme, Brown rushes toward home. " 'Slide, Kelly, slide!' yells a spectator who has forgotten his 'code simplified "Brown slides, the arbitre yells 'Sauve!' and the jolie demoiselle who's been hanging hang-ing on your arm says sweetly, 'Pourquoi cette emotion?' "Yes, the code is incomplete. How-can How-can you expect the French to understand baseball If. they have no words for 'fans ' 'bleachers.' 'rain checks,' 'hit the ball' and 'kill the big stiff?" Am sending you a clipping which I thought it might be well to pass along. By reading it you can see for yourself bow French has been minced in with our regular stuff. "The French at least a part of their army and some of the civilians have succeeded in adopting the national American Amer-ican pastime, but the language of baseball base-ball has proven a more difficult matter," Bays the clipping. "The pollu and the fair French spectator specta-tor have found such words as catcher,' pitcher' and 'home run' both tonguo twisting and unintelligible. So to add to the apprec iation all around the Soldiers' and Sailors' club is issuing a 'Code Slm-Pllfle Slm-Pllfle du Baseball,' prepared by F i Messerly, editor of .'Baseball.' These sheets will be distributed at tlio semifinal ghtnes for the Paris Baseball association championship between the Signal Disbursing Dis-bursing and Tripio A teams in the Bois de Boulogne this afternoon and between the Twelfth company, motor mechanics, me-chanics, and the clichy Supply depot teams at Colombes next Sunday. -"They w ill , play In English, of course but those who get the 'code simplifie' an talk the game In French. For instance, in-stance, Brown goes a la batte, and the anceur opens the first of the nouf in-llngs in-llngs by lancing a ball towards the at-.rapor.r. at-.rapor.r. It goes into his trap, having SBed over the well-known plaque de lilt and the arbitre yells 'line bonne!' "The second one Brown fouls, and it's a aux et ne compte prus, excepte si le oup est (monte en Pair) et a ete at-rape, at-rape, avant de toucher le sol, par un des servants de l'autro equipe. "Then Brown smashes one out into the xtra-champ. He passes premiere base nd seconde, spikes the hloqueur wow e almost said 'shortstop' and touches' oisleme base. Can he make the plaque 5 but? Champ de gauche is throwing he ball to champ du centre, plaving in