426 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



"housewife"). A cur of doubtful pedigree is a mongrel. I 

 need make no apology here for introducing a number of slang 

 expressions, as these forcibly illustrate the point. In several 

 striking instances the original vowel has been exchanged for 

 the low vowel of contempt: as cuss for "curse," bust for 

 " burst," and buss for the French " baiser." In vituperative 

 slang a countenance becomes an ugly mug, an ear a lug, a 

 prison njug, and a pugilist a, 'pug. And this little group sug- 

 gests to me one of the most vividly-descriptive stanzas in that 

 magnificent old poem "The Faery Queen," where a mono- 

 syllable of this class is brought in with striking effect. The 

 Eed Cross Knight meets with the foul monster Error in her 

 den, surrounded by her misshapen brood — 



And as she lay upon the dirty ground 



Her huge long tail her den all overspread, 



Yet was in knots and many boughts upwound, 

 Pointed with mortal sting : of her there bred 

 A thousand young ones, which she daily fed 



Sucking upon her poisonous dugs; each one 

 Of divers shapes, yet all ill-favoured 



The word is in the most absolute harmony with the repulsive 

 imagery of the passage. 



Every newspaper-reader, unfortunately, is of necessity 

 familiar with current slang ; and a recent example in an 

 editorial article supplies an excellent illustration of my present 

 point. The writer, it must be admitted, had a difficult task. 

 He had to reply to an article concerning an act of scandalous 

 extravagance, and could not venture either to dispute the facts 

 or controvert the principles. So he simply said that the rival 

 editor was a mugivuvip. This was unanswerable. "Mug- 

 wump," it is true, is not in the dictionaries, and has no defined 

 meaning ; but the duplication of the vowel (which we find also 

 in the weaker word humbug, also of unknown etymology) 

 conveys an unmistakable mental impression. The word is 

 American, and, if not new-minted by some inventive genius, is 

 probably (like "wigwam ") a corrupted native term. It is a 

 valuable example of the voivel of contempt.''' 



We need not seek for proofs of the general truth of the 

 propositions I have advanced. The idea having been sug- 

 gested, confirmations will crowd upon you. Leaving out of 

 consideration those Scripture passages which, as a Eoman 

 Catholic writer has said, " ring in the memory like the 



* There are two striking exceptions to the contemptuous use of 

 this vowel — judge and J2ist, and their compounds. For such noble 

 words as judgment and jtisticc to stand among the outcasts of the 

 language is a kind of contempt of Court. Trust is another fine word 

 in similar bad company. I can recall no other exceptions of any 

 importance. 



