American English. 



355 



extending the whole length of the mountain," cut out by single 

 booms. " The word booming," he adds, " has therefore a very signifi- 

 cant meaning, and is expressive as a word phrase, for it denotes an 

 overwhelming, irresistible power and force." 



To huck agaifist — To oppose violently. I suppose this verb to be 

 of American invention. 



Canaille — Shorts, or low grades of flour ; so defined in the Worces- 

 ter Supplement, where it is said, to be common in Canada and New 

 England. 



Casket — A kind of coflBn. This first appears m the Webster Sup- 

 plement of 1879. 



Coal. Bartlett blunders fearfully in attempting to give the names 

 of the different sizes of coal. His list is : 1, Broken or furnace coal, 

 being the largest lumps; 2, Stove or range; 3, Pea or nut; 4, Egg; 

 5, Coal dust. I believe the correct nomenclature is : 1, Furnace ; 2, 

 Egg; 3, Stove; 4, Chestnut; o. Pea; 6, Buckwheat; 7, Coal dust. 



Coral of lobster — Uuimpregnated eggs. Xot in the dictionaries, 

 except the Webster Supplement, and incorrectly defined there. 



Dodger — A small hand-bill ; not in the dictionaries. 



Escalan — Twelve and a-half cents, a New Orleans term not in the 

 dictionaries. 



Fair — An exhibition, not primarily for the purpose of sale. This 

 very common American use of the word is not recognized by any dic- 

 tionary in ordinary use, though the authority of a recent writer in the 

 Westminster Review (No. 230, October, 1881, p. 247 of the Scott 

 edition) may be cited in its support. 



French — A term used in Maryland and Virginia for anything that 

 is greatly disliked. " For instance," says a writer, " the tobacco 

 gets the worm in it that destroys it; they call in *frenching.' And 

 if the children have the measles very bad, it is ' French,' and the 

 same with a bad case of small-pox — it is the * real French small-pox.' " 



Furore — An excitement ; not in any English dictionary, so far as 

 I know, although it is found in one of Bartlett's citations, under the 

 heading **Nick." 



Gripsack — A recently-invented and rather vulgar term for a sat- 

 chel, chiefly heard, I believe, at the West. 



Handglass. Bartlett says handglasses are spectacles. My impres- 

 sion is that the term generally denotes a small looking-glass. 



Highwines. I am not certain that this is an American coinage, but 

 I believe it appears in no dictionary except the Worcester Supplement. 



Institute — A convention. Farmers' institutes — meetings lasting 

 two or three days, with lectures and discussions, are very common at 

 the West ; and there is a post-oflBce called Farmers' Institute " in 

 Tippecanoe County, Ind. 



Keet. Bartlett says "Guinea keets" are Guinea fowls. I think 

 the keets " are Guinea eggs — so called at the West. See Milwaukee 



