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Show ' -a ORIGIN OF SLANQ. ttow Dora, l'opular Wonte nnd l'lira.ea Camw Into Ilelnj. This may bo called In ono seme tho sgo of lanp. But after all what is called slaugu frequently tho giving ot a now meaning to old words or the Intention ot new words from old root.. The slangot to-day becomes tho elegant languago of to-morrow. It It Interesting to noto how many of tbo com monost words and phrasos which vv oro onco regarded as slangy and Inelegant bconnio a part of tbo pollto languago of tho tlmo. Words, llko llvos, bars a biography, says a writer in tho Pittsburgh Dliotcu. "Dun" Is a word novr whose meaning is kndvrn to evory ono who understands tho English language, Too many wislt they did apt know It, Yet at tho beginning of this contury It was unknown as a verb. About that time a constabto in England named John Dun became colobratoJ as a flrtt-class collector of bad accounts. When others would fall to colloct a bad debt Dun would bo suro to get It out of tho dobtor. Bo well-known well-known did this beconio that pcoplo from tbo surrounding country sent hlmtVolraccount. when thoy could not collect thorn It soon pasted Into a current pbrato that when a person owed money and did not pay when asked he would hare to be "Dunned " llenco It soon became common In such eases to say! "You will haro to Dun so-and o If you wish to colloct your money," Until the nomination of Franklin I'lercn for tho Presidency tho word "outsider" was unknown. Tho committee on credentials camo in to mako Its report and could not get into tho ball because ot the crowd ot people who woro not members of tho convention. con-vention. Tbo chairman of tho convention asked if tho committee was ready to report and the chairman of tbo commlttco answered! an-swered! "Yes, Mr. Chairman; but tho commlttoo Is unable to got Insldo on account ac-count of tbo crowd and pressure of thes outsiders." Tho nowspapor reporters, over ready to appreciate a good word or phraso, took up tho word and used It. Hlnco then It bus boen a common word and wo could not do without 1L "Doom," in Its new senso of meaning a popular clamor for a man, or for any question or movement, Is a recent word-being first mod as such In .80. Orant was belngrun for a third term. This brought out a. bitter opposition. One paper said tho movement was llko a boom across a swollen stream, taking In all that was worth having. This gavo a now moan lug to tho word. Binco then It has been In common uso as such. "You aro a daisy" Is considered very slangy by thoao whousolt Indiscriminately! and, oftentimes, it Is. But It usod In tho senso In which its Inventor, if I may so speak of a word, Charlos Dickens, Intended It, it Is a good and forclblo word. In "David Coppcrflokl" It Is first used In tbo senso of ' calling a person a daisy fn a way to express admiration, nnd, at tho samo time, to laugh at ono's credulity. Btoorforth says td young" Copticrfloldt "David, my daisy, you aro so) Innocent of tho world. Let mo call you iny daisy, as It Is so rofrcshlog to find ono In thcto corrupt days so innocent and unsophisticated. unso-phisticated. MydcarCoppcrncM.thodaisIcs of tho field aro not fresher than you." ! llenco, when convoying tho Idea that a person per-son Is arUoss and innocent amid a skeptical ' and sohemlng condition of society, to say! "You aro a daisy" is not slang. It Is forcible forci-ble and olegant. Tbo samo passago gavo us tho other word, meaning tbo samo thin'?, thoush sounding a little harsher, "fresh." |