350 America7i English. 



tered in meaning, application or sound. At least a hundred and 

 seventy-five more — and probably a much larger number — are also 

 cert<iinly British, though Mr.Bartlett seems not to be aware of it. The 

 rest of the dictionary — say four-fifths — is made up, partly of expressions 

 never in general use, or long since antiquated ; partly of mere mis- 

 pronunciations, grammatical errors and unauthorized contractions ; 

 partly of vulgar and disgusting slang; and partly of weari- 

 some repetitions. Yet I by no means desire to be under- 

 stood as setting down the work for a mass of rubbish. On the 

 contrary, it contains a vast fund of interesting and curious informa- 

 tion, which any man devoted to the study of English dialects might 

 well be proud to have brought together. Only it is a great pity that 

 the diligent compiler, in his anxiety to make a big book, allowed him- 

 self such extreme latitude in his conception of what constitutes an 

 Americanism in speech, pjid consequently buried his grains of wheat 

 under so appalling a mountain of chaff. 



It may be worth while to present some samples of the words that 

 are improperly included in Bartlett's Dictionary, as showing the means 

 by which a tremendous number of pseudo-Americanisms have been, 

 first and last, accumulated by people who find satisfaction in count- 

 ing them up. 



Of the three hundred and eighty-five words and phrases that the 

 author hknself sets down as of British origin, the following examples 

 may be mentioned : 



To beat one all-to-pieces, or all-to-smasli ; allotv, for assert argiify ; 

 awfully, for very: lail, the handle of a bucket; barm, for yeast ; hoitnd, 

 for determined or resolved ; a lull, on the stock exchange ; iumptious, 

 for self-conceited ; can't come it; cap sheaf; cheeJc,fov impudence; chowder; 

 clip, a blow, as, " he hit him a clip ; " to collide ; to cotton to a man ; 

 cracker, \ov a small biscuit; cute\ to cut stick: a deck of cards; 

 deputize; doxologize; dreadful, for very, as *^ dreadful fine; every 

 once in a while \ fall of the year; first-rate \ fix, to put in order; 

 flapjack; flummux; freshet ; gallivant; galoshes ; given name ; goodies', 

 to gulp ; hand-running ; hard up ; heft, for weight ; help, for servants; 

 homely, not handsome; hook, to steal; immigration', jeopardize', 

 julep ; to keep company; to loan ; mad, for angry; mighty, for very; 

 old fogy ; over the left ; pair of stairs ; j^^^^dAov pleaded ; pry, a lever; 

 to pull up stakes ; to reckon, meaning to think, believe or suppose ; 

 reliable ; rooster ; no great shakes ; sophomore ; spell of weather ; 

 spry:, spunk; starvation; stricken, iov struck; sundoicn; swap; to 

 take on; talented; teetotaller; ugly, for ill-tempered ; to wallop, and 

 to whale ; tvhapper ; to tchittle, and to wilt. In many cases no reason 

 whatever is assigned for including these words in a list of American- 

 isms ; very seldom is any better cause mentioned than that they are 

 provincial or antiquated in Great Britain ; and sometimes the pretext 



