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Dialect Notes. Vol. II, Part. I: College Words and Phrases. With an introduction by Prof. Eugene H. Babbitt. Publication of the American Dialect Society. Printed by the Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co. New Haven, Conn. 1900. 89 pp. Price $1,00.

The subject of college English has received so little attention in America that this issue of Dialect Notes will be found peculiarly welcome, containing as it does a lengthy, if not an exhaustive, list of college words and phrases, with an interesting introduction by Professor E. H. Babbitt. The material for this study was collected by the American Dialect Society, which sent a circular containing about three hundred words to almost all the institutions of learning in the country. Unfortunately, very few of the Southern colleges, and only two of those in the far West, returned reports, so that the student vocabulary of these sections is not adequately represented. Thus, from the University of Arkansas the following additions may be made to the word-list:

buggy, a. Cranky. [Cf. bug, a. Proud, self-important, pompous, conceited (dial.). Cent. Dict.; also bug, n. A stupid person. Dialect Notes.]

bug-house, a. Same as buggy.

bummy, a. Very poor, bad, disreputable. [Cf. bum, a., in D. Notes.]

cage, n. A room in a dormitory. [Cf. bird-cage, n. Dormytory for women students. D. Notes.]

daffy, a. Foolish, stupid. [Cf. daff, n. A fool, an idiot, a blockhead; also daffish, a. (Scotch), and other derived forms. Cent. Dict.]

dinky, a. Neatly dressed, trim, tidy. [Cf. dink, n. A dude. D. Notes; and the Cent. Dict. gives dink as an adjective (Scotch), quoting from Burns, My Lady's Gown:

My lady's dink, my lady's drest,

The flower and fancy o' the west.]

doozy, a. Attractive, clever.

hill-billy, n. A countryman who lives in the hilly portions of Arkansas. [This word is said to be used throughout the State.] hole, n. Same as cage.

jack up, v. t. To reprove; reprimand.

lid, n. A hat.

old-lady, n. A room-mate.

prissy, a. Conceited, self-important; pert, presumptuous. prut (prat), interj. An exclamation of contempt. Cent. Dict. cites, MS. Harl. 1701, f. 20:

And setteth hym ryzt at the lefte,

And seyth prut for thy cursyng prest.]

[The

pud (fua), n. A "snap" [Snap: a position, piece of work, etc., that is pleasant, easy, and remunerative. (Slang.) Cent. Dict.] roost, n. Topmost gallery of a theatre.

sideways, n. In phrase 'commit sideways,' to commit suicide. speckled pony, p. a. + n. An interlinear translation. Pony is the usual word for a translation of a Greek or Latin text.] stick, v. t. To report a student to the Commandant for misconduct, absence from recitation, etc.

whizz, n. A spree.

are

Prof. Babbitt notes that institutions with dormitories, in which students live for four years cut off from outside influences, peculiarly adapted to the development of a unique vocabulary. (Such is our college, along with academies like those at Andover and Exeter.) Moreover, certain new tendencies in education have within recent times modified the social life and increased the vocabulary of the American student. Preeminent among these is the demand for the higher education of women which has given us such colleges as Vassar of Wellesley, with a host of co-educational institutions where women have the same advantages as men. Strong and persistent, too, has been the cry for a practical education, resulting in the foundation of the scientific school, whose curriculum comprises chiefly the natural sciences and mathematics, although attention is also paid to English and the modern languages. Finally, there is the influence of Germany on our universities, which the writer would seem to think fruitful both for good and evil.

In another paragraph of the Introduction, the fact is pointed out that college words may frequently be divided into well-defined groups. Thus, a literal translation is known as a bicycle, horse, pony, race track, or stable. Co-educational institutions have given us hen-medic (a woman studying medicine), hen-roost (dormitory for women), spoon-holder (a cushioned window seat; a divan or hammock), etc. The influence of the classics is best seen in the usage of Greek letters for the names of Greek fraternities SO

cieties of a social character now found throughout the country, and established even in institutions where the classics are not taught. For instance, there is the Kappa Alpha, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and many other fraternities. It may be noted that a non-fraternity man is called a barb (barbarian), while a member of such a society is a Greek.

like the German 1),

Again, we read the American student uses, many words taken from botany and zoology. He calls a countryman a buckwheat, a hay-rube, or a hill-billy; a negro is a charcoallily; an apple-dumpling is a baby-skull, while sausage is known as dog, doggie, or bow-wow.

The writer also shows that one of the most note-worthy characteristics of student English is the tendency to abbreviate words to their fullest extent. Examples are bib (biblical literature), dorm (dormitory), elle (electricity), frat (fraternity), fresh (freshman), lab (laboratory), and many others. Compounds are freely formed, such as blue-stocking (a masculine college girl devoted to study), coffin-nail (a cigarette), fish-scale (a five cent piece), gospel-shar (a preacher), etc., while the various parts of speech are, in defiance of literary standards, frequently interchanged. Thus, we find the nouns dead (a complete failure in recitation), easy (one who gives easy lessons), and full (an examination), with such verbs as chin (to gossip), buzz (to entertain; converse with).

The value of a list of college words and phrases consists, as Prof. Babbit remarks, in the fact that it "exhibits the vocabulary of a living dialect, belonging to communities fairly distinct from the rest of the world and largely affected by similar influences. On this account it illustrates, as nothing else can do, the natural influences operating upon language and the natural effects to be expected, influences and effects which cannot be arrived at by a priori reasoning or with certainty from merely literary tradition."

The volume also includes reports on the annual meetings (1896-99) of the American Dialect Society, the names of the members, and a list of the libraries and societies subscribing to Dialect Notes.

University of Arkansas.

William A. Read.

1) The writer compares Kluge, Deutsche studentensprache p. 50.

LITTERATUR.

Beowulf. Herausgegeben von Alfred Holder. II a. Berichtigter text mit knappem apparat und wörterbuch. Zweite auf lage. Freiburg i. B., Leipzig und Tübingen, verlag von J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1899. (Heft 12a des Germanıschen bücherschatzes.) VIII u. 190 ss. Preis M. 2,50.

zweiten auflage: >Auch

Holder sagt im vorworte zu dieser in dieser neubearbeitung, welcher die forschung der letzten fünfzehn jahre auf dem gebiete des Altenglischen zu gute kommen sollte, habe ich mich der im I. hefte aufgezeichneten überlieferung so enge als irgend möglich angeschlossen. Da ich die erste auflage dieser Holder'schen Beowulf-ausgabe nicht besitze, und da sie auf der hiesigen universitätsbibliothek nicht vorhanden ist, so ist es mir leider nicht möglich, einen vergleich mit ihr anzustellen, an der schon Zupitza (Litt.-ztg. 1885 (14), 489 ff.) die sorgfältige textbehandlung und die geschickte auswahl in der aufnahme von konjekturen rühmte. Dem tadel Krügers (Litt.-bl. 1884 (12), 468/70), dass das buch zu teuer sei (411⁄2 M.), ist durch herabsetzung des preises auf 21/2 M. abgeholfen worden.

2

Mit Trautmann (Anglia, beiblatt X 257 ff.) muss ich es tadeln, dass das buch vollkommen zweispaltig gedruckt ist, so dass sehr häufig zwischen den beiden hälften einer langzeile der leere zwischenraum grösser ist als eine halbzeile; es ist wirklich eine zumutung, dem auge des lesers in jeder zeile einen sprung über solche lücke aufzugeben. Weshalb ist Holder nicht bei der altbewährten art anderer herausgeber geblieben, die beiden hälften jeweils durch eine gleich grosse kleine lücke abzutrennen? Und auch ich muss meiner verwunderung ausdruck geben über Holders schreibungen sē-pe, op-pæt, pœs-pe, pāra-pe, păm-đe, pone-đe, ne-meahte ic, ne-meahton wē, ne-grētte, ne-wæs u. ä. Wozu hier der bindestrich?

Dass Holder die seit seiner ersten auflage erschienenen forschungen kennt und zum teil berücksichtigt hat, zeigen schon die zahlreichen anmerkungen am fusse der seiten, in denen neben Thorpe, Kemble, Ettmüller u. a. älteren forschern die namen Sievers, Kluge, Cosijn immer wiederkehren. Holder hat das vorwort am 18. Ostermonat 1899 geschrieben; die im Jänner desselben jahres im zweiten hefte der Bonner beiträge zur anglistik erschienenen »berichtigungen, vermutungen und erklärungen zum

beowulf<< (I. hälfte: 1-1215) von Trautmann scheint er noch nicht gekannt zu haben oder nicht mehr haben berücksichtigen können. Mögen viele von ihnen auch äusserst gewagt erscheinen, mögen manche geradezu unannehmbar sein, die herausgeber werden an diesen scharfsinnigen forschungen nicht vorübergehen dürfen und nicht ohne reiche ausbeute vorübergehen können.

Dem texte folgt die übersicht der jetzt beschädigten stellen << der Beowulf-handschrift, die »übersicht der schreibfehler« und das übersichtliche wörterbuch (ohne belege). Man vermisst aber ein verzeichnis der benutzten ausgaben und textkritischen arbeiten. J. Ernst Wülfing.

Bonn, 23. I. 1901.

Old English Idyls. By John Lesslie Hall (translator of Beowulf), Professor of the English Language and Literature in the College of William and Mary. Ginn & Company, Boston. The Athenæum Press. 1899.

All who love our Old English literature must feel a certain sympathy with every whole hearted attempt to make that literature better known and more appreciated. Professor Hall in these Idyls has made such an attempt, and the book is filled with a spirit of affection for the early English time and the ways of that time. It is, therefore, with very sincere regret that one has to admit that the matter and method of these poems are not as good as their intention. Professor Hall has attempted to write original verses upon Old English themes in the modern English tongue but in the phraseology and versification of Old English poetry. He has given great thought and care to the work, yet the result cannot be called a success. Either his plan is altogether impossible of fine fulfilment or else it needs a writer with. much more skill and a better ear than Professor Hall's to carry it out. There are indeed lines in the book which give one a certain pleasure from their rhythm, or at least are inoffensive, such as these:

The raven was glad,

Bird of the battle, was easily eating

The flesh of the fallen. The feathery eagle,
Death-swooper dusky, down from his eyrie
Flew to the feast, too.

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