Etext of Dictionary of Americanisms
by John Russell Bartlett 

Dictionary of Americanisms. 
A Glossary Of Words and Phrases.
Usually Regarded as Peculiar to
The United States.
By John Russell Bartlett 
Corresponding Secretary of the American Ethnological Society,
and Foreign Corresponding Secretary of the New York Historical
Society New York:
Bartlett and Welford,
No. 7 Astor House.
1848.
Entered, According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1848, by John
Russell Bartlett, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the
United States for the Southern District Of New York.
Edward O. Jenkins, Printer,114 Nassau St., New York.

INTRODUCTION.

In venturing to lay before the public a Vocabulary of the colloquial
language of the United States, some explanation may be necessary
for the broad ground I have been led to occupy. 

I began to make a list of such words as appeared to be, or at least
such as had generally been called Americanisms, or peculiar to the
United States, and, at the same time, made reference to the several
authors in whose writings they appeared; not knowing whether, in
reality, they were of native growth, or whether they had been
introduced from England.  When this list had expanded so as to
embrace a large number of the words used in familiar
conversation, both among the educated as well as among the
uneducated and rustic classes, the next object was to examine the
dialects and provincialisms of those parts of England from which
the early settlers of New England and our other colonies
emigrated. 

The provincialisms of New England are more familiar to our ears
than those of any other section of the United States, as they are not
confined within the limits of those States, but have extended to
New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan; which States
have been, to a great extent, settled by emigrants from New
England. 

On comparing these familiar words with the provincial and
colloquial language of the northern counties of England, a most
striking resemblance appeared, not only in the words commonly
regarded as peculiar to New England, but in the dialectical
pronunciation of certain words, and in the general tone and accent. 
In fact, it may be said, without exaggeration, that nine tenths of the
colloquial peculiarities of New England are derived directly from
Great Britain; and that they are now provincial in those parts from
which the early colonists emigrated, or are to be found in the
writings of well accredited authors of the period when that
emigration took place. Consequently, it is obvious, that we have
the best authority for the use of the words referred to. 

It may be insisted, therefore, that the idiom of New England is as
pure English, taken as a whole, as was spoken in England at the
period when these colonies were settled.  In making this assertion,
I do not take as a standard the nasal twang, the drawling
enunciation, or those perversions of language which the ignorant
and uneducated adopt.  Nor would I acknowledge the abuse of
many of our most useful words.  For these perversions I make no
other defence or apology, but that they occur in all countries, and
in every language. 

Having found the case to be as stated, I had next to decide between
a vocabulary of words of purely American origin, or one in which
should be embraced all those words usually called provincial or
vulgar--all the words, whatever be their origin, which are used in
familiar conversation, and but seldom employed in
composition--all the perversions of language, and abuses of words
into which people, in certain sections of the country, have fallen,
and some of those remarkable and ludicrous forms of speech
which have been adopted in the Western States.  The latter plan
seemed the most satisfactory, and this I determined to adopt. 

With so broad a ground, many words must necessarily be
embraced, which are to be found in the dictionaries of Drs.
Johnson and Webster, with the remark that they are low, or vulgar,
or only to be heard in familiar conversation.  Another class, not in
the dictionaries referred to, is contained in the provincial
glossaries of England.  A third class, entirely distinct from the
preceding, consists of slang words which are not noticed by
lexicographers, yet are so much employed as to deserve a place in
a glossary. 

Such is the plan which I have though most advisable to adopt, and
which I hope will give satisfaction.  In carrying out this plan, I
have endeavored to give the most accurate definitions, citing the
authorities in all cases where I have been enabled to find any. 
Except as regards words of purely American origin, (e. g. those
derived from the Indian languages and from the Dutch,) I have
generally kept aloof from etymologies and etymological
discussions.  These the reader will find in abundance--such as they
are--in the works of Johnson, Todd, Webster, and others. 

Words of a provincial character, and such as have become obsolete
in composition, are often of doubtful signification.  Illustrations,
from well known authors, wherein such words are employed, are
of service in arriving at their true meaning.  These have been
employed in the present glossary, and serve the double purpose of
illustration, and of rendering the book more readable than of
confined to a dry collection of definitions.  This mode of showing
the sense in which words have been employed by authors, was first
practised on a comprehensive scale by Dr. Johnson, whose labors
are thereby greatly enhanced in value to the philologist; and has
since been carried out more completely in Mr. Richardson's
dictionary. 

The class of words which are purely American in their origin and
use, I have also attempted to illustrate, by extracts from American
authors, whose writings relate to that class of people among which
these words are chiefly found.  These books contain descriptions
of country life, scenes in the backwoods, popular tales, &c., in
which the colloquial or familiar language of particular States
predominates.  The humorous writings of Judge Haliburton of
Nova Scotia, give a tolerably correct though exaggerated specimen
of the provincialisms of New England.  The letters of Major
Downing are of the same character, and portray the dialect of New
England with less exaggeration.  There are no books in which the
Western words and phrases are so fully exhibited; though all the
works which aim to illustrate Western life, contain more or less of
the idioms peculiar to the people.  Judge Hall, Mrs. Kirkland
(Mary Clavers), the author of the New Purchase, Charles F.
Hoffman, and various tourists, have displayed in their several
works the peculiarities of the people of the West, and occasionally
their language.  Mr. Crockett, however, himself a native of that
region, associating form infancy with its woodsmen, hunters, and
farmers, whose language is full of quaint words and figures of
speech, has unintentionally made us better acquainted with the
colloquial language of the West than any other author. 

I am also indebted to a series of books published by Messrs. Cary
and Hart, called the "Library of Humorous American Works,"
which consist of a series of tales and adventures in the South-west
and West by Wm. T. Porter, editor of the New York Spirit of the
Times; John S. Robb and J. M. Field, Esquires, of St. Louis,
Missouri; the editor of the New Orleans Picayune, and some
anonymous writers.  In these several works, the drolleries and
quaint sayings of the West are admirably incorporated into tales of
the settlers, their manner and customs, vivid descriptions of
Western scenery, political and dramatic scenes, etc.  We have no
books which present so graphic an account of Western life, related
in the exaggerated and metaphorical language peculiar to the
people of that region. 

In Southern provincialisms I find myself most deficient, having
seen no books except Major Jones's "Courtship" and "Sketches,"
"Georgia Scenes," and "Sherwood's Gazetteer of Georgia," in
which however a considerable number of local words are to be
found. 

The newspapers have afforded me many illustrations of the use of
words, which I have not failed to make use of.  These illustrations,
it will be seen, are chiefly from the New York papers, viz. the
Commercial Advertiser, the Tribune, and the Herald, for the
simple reason that I have been in the practice of reading them
daily.  When I met with a word or phrase peculiarly American, or
one which was employed in a sense differing from the use of the
same in England, it was at once noticed and secured. All our
newspapers contain more or less colloquial words; in fact, there
seems no other way of expressing certain ideas connected with
passing events of every day life, with the requisite force and
piquancy.  In the English newspapers the same thing is observable,
and certain of them contain more of the class denominated slang
words than our own.  The Whig papers throughout the United
States employ certain political terms in advocating the principles
of their party, and in denouncing those of their opponents. The
Democratic papers pursue a similar course.  The advocates and
opponents of Abolition, Fourierism, etc., invent and employ many
words peculiar to themselves.  So with the religious sects; each
new-fangled notion brings into existence some addition to our
language, though that addition is not always an improvement. 

The value of this glossary would have been greatly enhanced, if, as
is usual in the compilation of similar works, I had been able to
avail myself of the assistance of persons residing in various parts
of our country. No collection of words, professing to contain the
colloquial languages of the entire country, can approach any
degree of completeness or correctness, without the aid of many
hands and heads.   None but a native of New England, educated on
her soil, and who has mingled with all classes of society, has the
requisite familiarity with the words and phrases peculiar to her
people. So with the Western and Southern provincialisms.  One
born and brought up where they are spoken, who has heard and
used them when a boy, and grown up in their midst, can portray
them in their true sense.  The aid of such persons it was impossible
to procure, and the words here brought together have been, with
very few exceptions, collected by myself.  The deficiencies and
imperfections are such, therefore, as could not be avoided under
the circumstances. 

The words of Dutch origin, most if not all of which are used or
understood in the city of New York and those portions of its
vicinity colonized by natives of Holland, were furnished by Mr.
Alexander J. Cotheal, a gentleman born and educated in New
York, whose learning in other branches of philological science is
well known to many.  A few other words have been given me from
time to time by other friends, who knew that I was making this
collection.  To all of these I am happy to express my
acknowledgments. 

When the work had advanced far towards completion, and one half
had been put in type, the occurrence of some terms, common in
political language, the exact meaning of which was not clear, led
me to apply to my friend John Inman, Esq., editor of the New York
Commercial Advertiser, for aid.  He readily compiled with my
request, and kindly furnished the definitions of several terms of
daily occurrence in the political language of the day.  I regret that I
did not have his valuable aid in defining and illustrating the use of
words and phrases which occur in the early part of the glossary. 
The contributions of Mr. Inman are acknowledged where they
appear. 

To my friend Mr. Wm. W. Turner, I am under great obligations for
aid rendered me in preparing this work for the press.  Mr. Turner's
extensive acquaintance with the European and Oriental languages,
together with an unusual sagacity in philological criticism, have
peculiarly fitted him to give aid in the preparation of a work like
this.  I have, therefore, submitted the whole to his supervision, and
adopted his views in all my conclusions.  At his suggestion, I have
struck out many etymologies taken from standard dictionaries,
which it was evident were wholly erroneous. 

In noticing the words embraced in this glossary, the reader will
probably think that many have been admitted which ought not to
have a place in a Dictionary of American Provincialisms.  From
what has already been said, it will be seen that it is very difficult to
draw the line between what should be admitted and what
excluded; and I have thought it better to err on the side of
copiousness, than by too rigid a system of selection to run into the
opposite extreme. 

A careful perusal of nearly all the English glossaries, has enabled
me to select what appeared most desirable to embrace, and what to
avoid, in an American book of a similar kind.  Cant words, except
such as are in general use, the terms used at gaming houses, purely
technical words, and those only known to certain trades, obscene
and blasphemous words, have been discarded. 

For a better understanding of the subject, as well as to show the
importance of collecting and preserving the colloquial dialects of
our country, I have prefixed to the Vocabulary some remarks on
language, in which the reader will find that the study of dialects
and provincialisms is considered as worthy the attention of
philologists, as the investigation of the language of literature.

DIALECTS OF ENGLAND.

The most recent investigations in which the science of philology
has been brought to bear on the English language, have shown that
it is of purely Gothic origin, descended through languages of
which sufficient remains to make grammatical as well as
etymological comparisons practicable. It is true that some have
regarded it as a perfect mongrel, without any natural parent,
compounded of various languages and dialects, Greek, Latin,
Saxon, French, Welsh, etc., etc.  But although the language is very
much mixed, it is a question whether it is not as pure, and as
closely allied to the Anglo-Saxon and M so-Gothic, as the
languages in the south of Europe are to the Latin.  Or, in other
words, is is probable that the English is not more impregnated with
words of the Latin stock, than the Italian, French, Spanish, and
Portuguese are with words of the Teutonic stock. 

The natural tendency of language is to improve; and when a people
cannot express in a comprehensive manner a particular idea or
shade of meaning, they either form a word to denote it from a root
or roots already in the language, or borrow a word from other
languages which expresses it already. 

The natural tendency of language is to improve; and when a people
cannot express in a comprehensive manner a particular idea or
shade of meaning, they either form a word to denote it from a root
or roots already in the language, or borrow a word from other
languages which expresses it already. 

With regard to the English language this last mentioned process
has been adopted to an extent which, while it has enriched our
vocabulary with a vast number of terms, has, it must be confessed,
greatly impaired its reproductive power.  The original substratum
of Anglo-Saxon speech has been overlaid with multitudes of
common and conversational words from the French, literary and
ecclesiastical terms from the Latin, and technicalities from the
Greek; and the process is constantly going on.  Yet in spite of these
immense accessions to its vocabulary, the structure of the English
has remained in all essential respects the same from the period
when it first became a language.  Moreover, the number of foreign
importations contained in our dictionaries gives by no means a
correct idea of the number of such words which we actually make
use of.  The greater part of our household, colloquial, and poetical
expressions are Saxon, and so are all those important words called
particles, on which the whole structure of speech hinges; whereas
an immense number of the words derived from other sources
belong exclusively to the language of books, and many even to
particular sciences. 

There is another fact to be observed, which is that these different
classes of words are not used in the same proportion by all
members of society.  Persons without education, and who are
consequently not familiar with the language of literature, employ
almost exclusively in their conversation the simple and expressive
Saxon terms; while persons belonging to the more favored classes
of society, supply the place of many of these terms by others
derived from the language of books.  The old words thus
discarded, which are often far more expressive and more
consonant to the genius of the language than the apparently more
elegant novelties by which they are supplanted, are from that time
considered as the exclusive property of the common people, and
receive the name of provincial,colloquial, or vulgar. 

But notwithstanding all this, the common speech often enters
largely into composition, and in some instances constitutes the
chief excellence of a writer.  In dramatic composition the
colloquial language predominates.  In Shakspeare we find every
variety of idiom of which the English language is susceptible, from
the loftiest flights of the statesman and philosopher to the familiar
language of the lowest of the people.  In Ben Jonson, Beaumont
and Fletcher, Shirley, and other dramatic authors, we find the
familiar idiom to be the most prevalent.

If we examine the literature of other countries, we shall find that
the colloquial tongue has been employed in written compositions
of a similar kind and with equal success.  In addition to
Aristophanes and Plautus among the ancients, Don Quixote may
be mentioned as an example in Spain, and the writings of Rabelais
and MoliŠre in France.  The colloquial dialect is generally more
ancient than the literary language; as the latter is constantly
changing, while the former remains nearly stationary. 

If any person will take the trouble to examine the early dictionaries
of the English language, or the dictionaries of which English forms
a part, he will be surprised at the large number of words which
have become so completely obsolete as to be undeserving a place
in modern compilations.  Even the English dictionary of Bailey,
which, at the time Dr. Johnson published his, was the standard,
abounds in words which are now never used in composition.  This
class of words was employed by authors from Chaucer's time, or
about the year 1400, to the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
By the middle of that century they had ceased to be used in books,
but were preserved in dictionaries for a century longer.  The great
mass of them, however, are found in one or more of the numerous
provincial dialects of England to the present day. 

The dialects of the English language now spoken in England have
existed from a very early period.  It is not pretended by writers on
the subject that any are of recent origin.  "In early times," says Dr.
Bosworth, "there was clearly a considerable dialectic variety in the
writings of men residing in different provinces.  The differences
observable in the language of the most cultivated classes would be
still more marked and apparent in the mass of population, or in the
less educated community.  These, from their agricultural pursuits,
had little communication with the inhabitants of other provinces;
and having few opportunities and little inducement to leave their
own neighborhood, they intermarried among each other, and, from
their limited acquaintance and circumscribed views, they would
naturally be much attached to their old manners, customs, and
language.  The same cause operating from age to age would keep
united the greater part of the population, or the families of the
middlestations of life; it may, therefore, be well expected that
much of the peculiarity of the dialect prevalent in Anglo-Saxon
times, is preserved even to the present day in the provincial
dialects of the same districts.  In these local dialects, then,
remnants of the Anglo-Saxon tongue may be found in the least
altered, most uncorrupt, and therefore its purest state."[ * ] 

In an ethnological point of view the English dialects afford
important materials for elucidating that portion of English history
which relates to the early colonization of Great Britain; for, if
history were silent on the subject, a philological test applied to the
dialects of the country would show what nations contributed to its
colonization. 

The Edinburgh Review for April, 1844, in an article on the
Provincialisms of the European Languages, gives the following
results of an inquiry into the number of provincial words which
had then been arrested by local glossaries: 

Shropshire, . . . . . . 1,993      
Sussex, . . . . . . . .   371    
Devonshire and Cornwall,  878      
Essex, . . . . . . . . .  589    
Devonshire (North), . . 1,146      
Wiltshire, . . . . . . .  592    
Exmoor, . . . . . . . . . 370     
Hallamshire, . . . . .  1,568     
Herefordshire, . . . . .  822     
Craven, . . . . . . . . 6,169     
Lancashire, . . . . . . 1,922      
North Country, . . . .  3,750     
Suffolk, . . . . . . .  2,400      
Cheshire, . . . . . . . . 903     
Norfolk, . . . . . . .  2,500      
Grose and Pegge,[   ] . . 3,500    
 Somersetshire, . . . .  1,204    
                                 _______                                                              
                                    30,687

"Admitting that several of the foregoing are synonymous,
superfluous, or common to each county, there are nevertheless
many of them which, although alike orthographically, are vastly
dissimilar in signification.  Making these allowances, they amount
to a little more than 20,000; or, according to the number of English
counties hitherto illustrated, to the average ratio of 1478 to a
county.  Calculating the twenty-six unpublished in the same ratio
(for there are supposed to be as many words collected by persons
who have never published them) they will furnish 36,428
additional provincialisms, forming in the aggregate 59,000 words
in the colloquial tongue of the lower classes, which can, for the
chief part, produce proofs of legitimate origin." 

[*] Preface to Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, p. xxvi.

[ ] Set down as Metropolitan.

Since the above was written, a most important contribution to this
department of literature has been made in the publication of "A
Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases,
Proverbs, and Ancient Customs, from the fourteenth Century.  By
J. O. Halliwell.  2 vols. 8vo., London, 1847."  This admirable work
actually contains 50,000 words, a great portion of which are
illustrated by extracts from manuscripts.  It will be found by most
persons to amply supply the place of the numerous separate
glossaries for studying the dialects of England, while it affords
indispensable assistance for the correct understanding of the early
writers. 

As it does not fall within the scope of these inquiries to discuss the
languages with which the English bears a relationship, we shall
pass over these, and come at once to the Anglo-Saxon.  This forms
the basis of the English language, and is to be considered as the
mother-tongue, upon which many words and phrases from other
languages, at successive periods, during a space of fourteen
centuries, have been engrafted. 

The Saxons brought their language into Britain in the year 449,
when the invasion under Hengist took place.  What the language
was at this period it is impossible to show, as no writings of the
time have come down to us. It probably approached nearer to its
immediate progenitor, the Low German and M so-Gothic, than the
form it assumed several centuries later, when we first find written
documents.[ * ] 

The large number of invaders who followed Hengist compelled the
ancient inhabitants to retire; and in about a century the whole
country was formed into a Saxon kingdom, wherein their language
took the place of the Celtic.  This language, thus introduced and so
firmly established, has been called pure Saxon by the learned Dr.
Hickes in his "Thesaurus Veterum Linguarum Septentrionalium." 

The languages of the Angles and Saxons were closely allied to
each other.  In fact, from a comparison of the earliest speci- 

[*]  It is true that the celebrated Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf is
said by some writers to be contemporary with Hengist.  But Mr.
Bosworth states that "the poem contained in the Cottonian MS.,
British Museum, is not so old.  There occur in it Christian
allusions which fix this text at least at a period subsequent to A. D.
597."

mens that have come down to us, it is evident that they were
merely dialects of the same tongue, spoken by peoples living
contiguous to each other.  The other Gothic invaders or colonists
of Britain, who have left traces of their language, are the Jutes of
Jutland and the Friesians of Friesland. 

The Danes made their first descent on the English coast in 787,
and were soon repelled.  Successive invasions followed, and while
Charlemagne compelled them to retreat before his victorious
armies, they sought a refuge in Britain, laying waste the country
and plundering wherever they came.  The Saxons always got rid of
them as soon as possible, either by force of arms or contributions
of money.  Yet, in many instances, they established colonies, and
after 230 years of warfare they succeeded in raising a Danish king
to the throne of England in the year 1017.  His reign, however, was
short; for in 24 years the Danish dynasty was extinct, and a Saxon
king again succeeded. 

This is the period where Dr. Hickes places the second stage of the
Anglo-Saxon language, being that in which it was affected by the
Danish invasions, receiving new words or dialectical changes.  Mr.
Forby, in his remarks on the dialect of East Anglia, says that no
part of England was more completely overrun or longer occupied
than this; but he denies that a number of words sufficiently large
was imported to give a new color and character to the Saxon
tongue.[ * ] 

"The French element appeared in our language with the battle of
Hastings (A. D. 1066), perhaps in a slight degree during the reign
of Edward the Confessor."[   ]  It is the dialect spoken in the
northern parts of France and denominated Norman French, which
has had the greatest influence upon the English language. 

[*]  Forby's Introd. to the Vocab. of East Anglia, p. 31.

[ ]  Latham on the English Language, p. 45.  1st edit.

AMERICAN DIALECTS.

Dialects originate in various ways.  First, by the proximity of
nations speaking different languages, in which case many words
and phrases are borrowed from one into the other; witness the
Scotch and Irish dialects of the English.  Secondly, by migrations. 
This is the most fruitful and permanent source of dialects.  We see
its effects in the English language; for the immigration of various
nations into Great Britain from the Saxons down to the period of
the Norman conquest are yet distinctly marked in the dialects of
that country. 

In the United States it is easy to point out causes, which, in the
course of a few generations, will materially affect the English
language in the particular districts of country were those
influences are at work. Dialects will spring u as marked as those of
Great Britain.  A free intercourse may in some cases check the
permanency of these dialects; but in those parts of the country
aside from the great thoroughfares, where a dialect has once
become firmly established, a thousand years will not suffice to
eradicate it. 

The State of New York was originally settled by the Dutch.  The
number of their colonists was never large, nor did they extend their
settlements beyond the valley of the Mohawk and lands adjacent;
yet we find even in this thickly settled State, after a lapse of two
hundred years, that they have left evident traces on our spoken
language.  In the cities of New York and Albany many Dutch
words have become incorporated into the common speech.  In
some of the inland villages of Dutch origin, the inhabitants still
use the language of their fathers; and there are even individuals
who never spoke any other. 

The words so adopted by us embrace geographical names,--a class
of words which the first colonists of a country or the primitive
inhabitants themselves generally leave to their posterity or to the
subsequent occupants.  Many of the other words which the Dutch
have left us are terms belonging to the kitchen.  These have been
preserved and handed down by cooks and domestic servants, until
from constant use they are become familiar to all. Among these
terms are cooky, crullers, olykoke,spack and epplejees, rullichies,
kohlslaa, pit. 

The terms for various playthings, holidays, &c., preserve among
children their original Dutch names; as scup, hoople,pweewee,
pile, pinkster, paas.  Other words confined to children are pinky,
terawchy. 

Articles of wearing apparel in some instances retain their Dutch
names; as clockmutch. 

Besides these there are terms the use of which is not confined to
the districts originally colonized from Holland, but has been
extended to New England and several of the Northern States; such
as stoop, a porch, boss, a master-workman. 

If a few Dutch colonists mingled with the English have been able
to engraft so many words on our language, what may we expect
from the hundreds of thousands of Germans in the State of
Pennsylvania?  There the German language will doubtless exist for
centuries; for, although they are situated in the midst of an
English-speaking population far more numerous than themselves,
and although the government and laws are conducted through the
English language, still the tendency of a people of common origin
to cling together,--the publication of newspapers, almanacs, and
books in German,--and the cultivation to some extent of German
literature, will tend to preserve the idiom and nationality of the
people.  It is true the language is already much corrupted,a nd in
the course of time it must give way to the English; but it will leave
behind it an almost imperishable dialect as a memento of its
existence.  In the State of Ohio, where there are large settlements
of Germans, a similar result must follow. 

In the State of Illinois is a colony of Norwegians.  These people
before coming to America sent out an agent, who selected and
purchased for them a large tract of land in one section of that
State.  They were accompanied by their clergyman and
schoolmaster.  They are thus kept together, and will for a long time
preserve their language and nationality. But it must also eventually
give way, after engrafting on the English language in that vicinity a
Norwegian dialect.

There are large settlements of Welsh emigrants in the States of
Pennsylvania and New York.  In the latter, in Oneida county, one
may travel for miles and hear nothing but the Welsh language. 
They have their newspapers and magazines in their native tongue,
and support many churches wherein their language alone is
preached.  The Welsh, however, are not in sufficient numbers, nor
are they sufficiently isolated to retain for any length of time their
native tongue; neither can they produce any sensible dialectical
change in our language, owing to the great difference between it
and their own.  They will, however, add some words to it. 

In the State of Louisiana, which was colonized by the French, and
Florida, which was colonized by the Spaniards, there are many
words of foreign origin, scarcely known in the Northern States. 
The geographical divisions, the names of rivers, mountains, bays;
the peculiarities of soil and climate; all that relates to the
cultivation of the earth, the names of fishes, birds, fruits,
vegetables, coins, &c., &c., retain to a great extent the names
given them by the first possessors of the country.  The same class
of words is preserved in Lower Canada, where they were originally
given by the French.  They are now adopted by the English, and
will for ever remain in use.  Among the words of French origin are
cache, calaboose, bodette, bayou, sault, levee, crevasse, habitan,
charivari. 

The Spanish colonists in Florida, and our intercourse with Mexico
and the Spanish main, have been the means of introducing a few
Spanish words.  Among these are canyon, cavortin,
chaparral,pistareen, rancho, vamos. 

The Indian terms in our language, as might be supposed, are
numerous.  First, as to geographical names.  These abound in every
State in the Union, though more in some States than in others.  In
New England, particularly o the coast, Indian names are very
common.  Nearly all the rivers, bays and prominent landmarks
bear them, as Housatonic,Connecticut, Quinnebaug, Pawcatuck,
Merrimack,Kennebec, Penobscot, Narraganset, Passamaquoddy,
&c.  In other parts of the country too the rivers retain their
aboriginal names, as the Mississippi, Ohio, Susquehanna,
Roanoake, Altamaha,Chattahoochie, Alabama, &c., &c.  And the
same may be said of the great lakes, nearly all the bays, mountains,
and numerous geographical divisions and localities.  Many of the
aboriginal names, however, have been discarded for others less
appropriate.  In New England the towns and villages were chiefly
named after the town in England from which the early colonists
emigrated.  In the State of New York there is a strange anomaly in
the names of places.  Before the Revolution the people seemed to
prefer the aboriginal names; not only the rivers, lakes, hills, &c.,
but many of the towns received them.  After the war, the names of
distinguished statesmen and soldiers were applied to the new
counties and towns. 

The great perversions of the English language arise from two
opposite causes.  One of them is the introduction of vulgarisms by
uneducated people, who not having the command of proper words
to express their ideas, invent others for the purpose.  These words
continue among this class, are transmitted by them to their
children, and thus become permanent and provincial.  They are
next seized upon by stump-speakers at political meetings, because
they have an influence and are popular with the masses. Next we
hear them on the floor of Congress and in our halls of legislation.
Quoted by the newspapers, they become familiar to all, and take
their place in the colloquial language of the whole people. 
Lexicographers now secure them and give them a place in their
dictionaries; and thus they become firmly engrafted on our
language.  The study of lexicography will show that this process
has long been going on in England, and doubtless other languages
are subject to similar influences. 

But the greatest injury to our language arises from the perversion
of legitimate words and the invention of hybrid and other
inadmissable expressions by educated men, and particularly by the
clergy.  This class is the one, above all others, which ought to be
the conservators rather than the pervertors of language.  It is
nevertheless a fact which cannot be denied, that many strange and
barbarous words to which our ears are gradually becoming
familiar, owe to them their origin and introduction; among them
may be mentioned such verbs as to fellowship, to difficult, to
eventuate, to doxologize, tohappify, to donate, &c., &c. 

Political writers have made and are constantly making large
additions to our stock of words and phrases.  Alex. Hamilton's
writings abound in newly coined expressions; many of which have
been adopted by Dr. Webster, and have a place in his dictionary. 
But few, however, have come into general use, as his writings have
not been widely diffused, and there is nothing to recommend them
for adoption by scholars.  Judge Story has contributed his share of
new words; but as they are confined to legal treatises and works on
the Constitution, they can never seriously affect the language. 

Writers of political articles in the newspapers, stump-orators, and
the members of legislative bodies, have added much to the English
vocabulary.  This class of words, though not remarkable for their
elegance, are often expressive and become more widely known
than other classes.  In many instances, however, their existence is
but short.  They often spring up with a party; and as the parties
become extinct, or give place to new ones, the terms which
express their peculiar ideas or doctrines likewise fall out of use.  In
this class may be included such terms as Old Hunker, Bucktail,
Federalist, Barnburner, Loco-foco, Young Democracy, Democratic
Republican, Native American, Nullifier, Nullification, Coon,
Coonery, &c. 

There are words, however, in this class, whose origin has grown
out of our peculiar institutions, and which consequently are of a
permanent nature.  The origin of some of these is involved in
obscurity, while that of others is well known.  Sometimes a little
incident trivial in itself has brought into existence words which are
extremely expressive, and which will remain as long as our
institutions exist.  In this class we findCaucus, Buncombeor
Bunkum, Congress, to Lobby, Mileage, Gubernatorial, General
Court, General Assembly, President's and Governor's Messages,
Senatorial, &c., &c. 

The peculiar physical features of the country--its animals,
productions, aborigines, forest life, &c.--have been a most fruitful
source, from which has sprung perhaps the largest number of new
words, as necessary and useful to ourselves as any derived from
our Saxon ancestors.  These terms are not used in England, for the
simple reason that there they are not wanted.  Although I cannot
agree with Dr. Webster, that "we rarely find a new word
introduced into a language which is entirely useless,"--for there are
unquestionably thousands of words encumbering our dictionaries
which might well be dispensed with,--yet there is no doubt that, in
most instances, "the use of new terms is dictated by necessity or
utility; sometimes to express shades of difference in signification,
for which the language did not supply a suitable term; sometimes
to express a combination of ideas by a single word, which
otherwise would require a circumlocution.  These benefits, which
are often perceived, as it were, instinctively by a nation,
recommend such words to common use, till the cavils of critics are
silenced by the weight of authority,"--Letter to J. Pickering, p. 7. 

Were we to classify the periods when names were applied to
places in the State of New York, for example, we would call that
in which the Indian names were applied, the Aboriginal period. 
This is as far back as it would be safe for ordinary mortals to go,
leaving the "ante-diluvian" period to the second sight of such seers
as Mr. Rafinesque.[ * ] 

The Indian names seem to have prevailed till the revolution.  Then
came a burst of patriotism among the settlers, many of whom
doubtless had served in the war, and every new place was
christened with the names of the warriors and statesmen of the
day.  Thus arose Washington county, Washington village, and
Washington hollow; Jefferson county, village, lake, &c. The State
of New York has thus perpetuated, in her towns and villages, the
names of Adams, Jay, La Fayette, Hamilton, Madison, Pinckney,
Putnam, Pulaski, Schuyler, De Kalb, Steuben, Sullivan, Gates,
Wayne, &c.  This may well be styled the Patriotic period.  But
New York appreciated also the military and naval geniuses of
other countries, for we find a Nelson, a Moreau, a Waterloo, &c.
within her borders.  The names of statesmen and generals did not
suffice for the patriotism of our early pioneers, for we find
interspersed among them the names of Freedom, Freetown,
Freeport, Independence, Liberty, Victory, Hopewell, Harmony,
Concord, &c. 

[*]  See Introduction to History of Kentucky.

Next comes the Classical period; for by what other term could we
designate a period when towns were christened by the names of
such men as Homer, Virgil, Solon, Ovid, Cato, Brutus, Pompey,
Tully, Cicero, Aurelius, Scipio, Ulysses, Seneca, Hannibal, Hector,
Romulus, Lysander, Manlius, Camillus, and Marcellus; or of such
places as Athens, Sparta, Troy, Corinth, Pharsalia, Palmyra, Utica,
Smyrna, Rome, and Carthage. 

Testimony to the piety (to say nothing of the good taste) of our
forefathers is also afforded by the occurrence of such names as
Eden, Babylon, Sodom, Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron, Goshen,
Bethany, Bethpage, Bethlehem, Sharon, &c.  There are towns
named after nearly ever country in Europe, as Norway, Sweden,
Denmark (with a Copenhagen adjoining), Russia, Greece, Italy,
Sardinia, Holland, Wales, as well as after their principal cities. 
There is a town of Mexico, Canton, Peru, Delhi, Cairo, China,
Cuba. Distinguished men in English history, as Milton, Addison,
Dryden, Scott, Byron, Chesterfield, Marlborough, Junius, have
towns christened with their names.  But little fondness is exhibited
for dramatic authors, as the names of the greatest of them all has
been forgotten.  Not even a pond, a hollow, or a swamp has been
honored with the name of Shakspeare.  If we were to classify all
the names of places in the State of New York, we should be
puzzled for a place to put the names of Painted Post, Oxbow,
Halfmoon, Owl Pond, Oyster Bay, Mud Creek, Cow Neck,
Mosquito Cove, and the like.  The name of Pennyan is said to have
been manufactured by the first settlers, part of whom were from
Pennsylvania and the rest from New England, by taking the first
syllable from "Pennsylvania," and the last from "Yankee." 

Now the Mexican war is over, we shall doubtless have a large fund
of names to use in our newly acquired territories, and the new
States at the West.  The old generals of the revolution will be
passed by, and the span- new heroes of this war will be handed
down to the admiration of posterity in the metamorphosed shape of
cities, towns; and villages, yet to come into-----existence.  As the
simplicity of the revolutionary period no longer remains, the plain
surname will not answer now-a-days; but the love of glory and the
love of magniloquence may both be gratified in such euphonious
compounds as Quitmanville, Pillowtown, and Polkopolis!

The class of words which owe their origin to circumstances or
productions peculiar to the United States, such as backwoods,
backwoodsmen, breadstuffs, barrens, bottoms, buffalo-robe,
cane-brake, cypress-brake,clapboard, corn broom, corn-shucking,
clearing, deadening, diggings, dug-out, flat boat, husking, pine
barrens, prairie, prairie dogs, prairie hen, shingle, sawyer, salt lick,
savannah, snag, sleigh, &c., are necessary additions to the
language. 

The metaphorical and other odd expressions used first at the West,
and afterwards in other parts of the country, often originate in
some curious anecdote or event, which is transmitted from mouth
to mouth, and soon made the property of all.  Political writers and
stump speakers perform a prominent part in the invention and
diffusion of these phrases.  Among these may be mentioned, to
cave in, to acknowledge the corn,to flash in the pan, to bark up the
wrong tree, to pull up stakes, to be a caution, to fizzle out, to flat
out, to fix his flint, to be among the missing, to give him Jessy, to
see the elephant, to fly around, to tucker out, to use up, to walk
into, to mizzle to,to absquatulate, to cotton, to hifer, &c., &c. 

Our people, particularly those who belong to the West and South,
are fond of using intensive and extravagant epithets, both as
adjectives and adverbs, as awful, powerful, monstrous,dreadful,
mighty, almighty, all-fired, &c. 

The words bankable, boatable, mailable, mileage, are well formed
and useful terms which have been generally adopted by those who
have occasion to make use of them.  But the words dubersome,
disremember, decedent, docity, cannot be called useful or
necessary additiosn to our language. 

The Indian element in our language, or rather the Indian words
which have become adopted in it, consist, 1st. Of geographical
names.  2d. Of the names of various animals, birds, and fishes. 3d.
Of fruits and cereals; particularly the several preparations of the
latter for eating.  Thus from Indian corn, we havesamp, hominy,
and supawn;  from the manioc plant,mandioca and tapioca.  4th.
Such articles known to and used by the Indians, which the
Europeans did not possess, as canoe, hammock, tobacco,
moccasin, pemmican; also, barbecue, hurricane, pow-wow. 

The Indian names of animals, fishes, and reptiles, are generally
local.  Thus a fish may be known by different names in Boston,
New York, and Delaware Bay, as scup, paugie, and scuppaug. 

There is a diversity in the pronunciation of certain words in
different parts of the United States, which is so perceptible that a
native of these particular districts may be at once recognised by a
person who is observant in these matters.  Residents of the city of
New York are, perhaps, less marked in their pronunciation and use
of words, than the residents of any other city or State, the reason of
which is obvious.  The population is so fluctuating, so many
people form every part of the country, as well as from England,
Scotland, and Ireland, are congregated here, who are in daily
contact with each other, that there is less chance for any idiom or
peculiarity of speech to grow up.  The large number of educated
men in New England, her admirable schools and higher
institutions of education, have had a powerful influence in
moulding the language of her people.  Yet, notwithstanding this
fact, in Boston and other towns in Massachusetts, there exist some
glaring errors in the vulgar speech.  There are peculiarities also to
be observed in the literary language of the Bostonians.  The great
extent to which the scholars of New England have carried the
study of the German language and literature for some years back,
added to a very general neglect of the old master-pieces of English
composition, have had the effect of giving to the writings of many
of them an artificial, unidiomatic character, which has an
expressibly unpleasant effect to those who are not habituated to it. 

The agricultural population who live in the interior of New
England, have a strongly marked provincial dialect, by which they
may be distinguished from the people of every other part of the
Union.  The chief peculiarity is a drawling pronuncia- +xxiv 

tion, sometimes accompanied by a speaking through the nose,
aseend for end, dawg for dog, Gawd forGod, &c.  Before the
sounds ow and oo, they often insert a short i, which we will
represent by the letter y; askyow for cow, vyow for vow, tyoo
fortoo, dyoo for do, &c. &c.  The numerous words employed in
New England, which are not heard in other parts of the country,
are mostly genuine old words still provincial in the North of
England; very few are of indigenous origin. 

The chief peculiarity in the pronunciation of the Southern and
Western people is the giving of a broader sound than is proper to
certain vowels; as whar for where, thar for there,bar for bear. 

In the following table of words, incorrectly pronounced, such as
belong to New England are designated by the letters N. E.; those
exclusively Western, by the letter W.; the Southern words, by S.;
the rest are common to various parts of the Union.  In this attempt
at classification there are doubtless errors and imperfections; for
an emigrant from Vermont to Illinois would introduce the
provincialisms of his native district into his new residence. 

arterary

attackted

anywheres

bachelder

bagnet

bar

becase

bile

cheer

chimbly

cupalo

cotch'd

critter

curous

dar

darter

deu

for after,

" either,

" attack'd,

" anywhere,

" bachelor,

" bayonet,

" bear, W.

" because,

" boil,

" chair,

" chimney,

"cupola,

" caught,

" creature,

" curious,

" dare, W.

" daughter,

" do.   N. E.

delightsome

drownded

druv

dubous

eend

everywheres

gal

gin

git

gineral

guv

gownd

har

hath

hender

hist

hum

humbly

for delightful." drown'd,

" drove, W.

" dubious.

" end.

" everywhere,

" girl,

" give,

" get,

" general,

" gave,

" gown,

" hair, W.

" hearth, S.

" hinder,

" hoist,

" home, N. E.

" homely, N. E.

hull

ile

innemy

janders

jest

Jeems

jine

jist

kittle

kiver

larn

larnin

lives

leetle

nary

ourn

perlite

racket

rale

rench

krheumatiz

ruff

sarcer

sarce

sarve

sass

sassy

scace

scass

for whole, W.

" oil,

" enemy,

" jaundice,

" just,

" James,

" join,

" joist,

" kettle,

" cover,

" learn,

" learning,

" lief,

" little,

" neither, 

" ours,

" polite,

" rocket,

" real,

" rince,

" rheumatism,

" roof, N. E.

" saucer,

" sauce,

" serve," sauce, N. E.

" saucy,

" scarce, N. E.

" scarce, W.

sen

shay

shet

sistern

sich

sot

sorter

stan

star,

stun

stiddy

spettacle

spile,

squinch

streech

suthin

tech

tend

tell'd

thar

timersome

tossel

umberell

varmint

wall

whar

yaller

yourn

for since,

" chaise, N. E.

" shut, S.

" sisters, W.

" such,

" sat, N. E.

" sort of,

" stand, N. E.

" stair, w.

" stone, N. E.

" steady, N. E.

" spectacle,

" spoil, N. E.

" quench,

" stretch, W.

" something,

" touch,

" attend,

" told, N. E.

" there, W.

" timorous," tassel,

" umbrella,

" vermin, W.

" well, N. E.

" where, W.

" yellow,

" yours.

Before closing these observations on American provincialisms, I
should do injustice to previous writers on the same subject, not to
speak of their works.  The earliest of these, as far as my knowledge
extends, is that of Dr. Witherspoon.  In a series of essays, entitled
"The Druid," which appeared originally in a periodical publication
in 1761, he devotes numbers 5, 6, and 7 of these essays, about 20
pages in all, to Americanisms, perversions of language in the
United States, cant phrases, &c.  They were afterwards published
in his collected works, in 4 vols. 8vo., Philadelphia, 1801, and may
be found in the fourth volume. 

The most important work of the kind is that of the late Hon. John
Pickering.  He began with an article in the "Memoirs of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences," Boston.  This was soon
after enlarged and published in a separate volume entitled "A
Vocabulary, or Collection of Words and Phrases which have been
supposed to be peculiar to the United States of America.  To which
is prefixed an Essay on the present state of theEnglish Language in
the United States."  Boston:  1816.  Pp. 206. (Containing about 520
words.)  This valuable and interesting work received much
attention, and in the following year appeared a pamphlet, entitled
"A Letter to the Hon. John Pickering, on the Subject of his
Vocabulary, or Collection of Words and Phrases, supposed to be
peculiar to the United States."  By Noah Webster.  8vo.  Boston: 
1817.  Pp. 69. 

In the transactions of the Albany Institute, 1830, vol. I., is an
article entitled "Notes on Mr. Pickering's Vocabulary, &c., with
Preliminary Observations."  By T. Romeyn Beck.  In Mr.
Sherwood's "Gazetteer of Georgia," is a glossary of words
provincial in the Southern States.  The latest work on
provincialisms, but chiefly of errors in grammar, is "A
Grammatical Corrector, or Vocabulary of the Common Errors of
Speech; Alphabetically Arranged, Corrected, and Explained for the
Use of Schools and Private Individuals."  By Seth T. Hurd.  12mo.
Philadelphia:  1847.[ * ] 

As the charge has been frequently made against us by English
critics of perverting our vernacular tongue, and of adding useless
words to it, it will not be out of place to state here, that in the
belief of the author, the English language is in no part of 

[*]  In preparing this work, I have examined all the English
provincial glossaries, and the principal English dictionaries; which
it was necessary to do in order to know what words and phrases
were still provincial in England.  Many of the facts in the
introductory essay on dialects, have been drawn from similar
essays appended to the several glossaries.  But I am chiefly
indebted to the enlarge preface in Dr. Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon
Dictionary, which presents the best historical analysis extant of the
English language; and to the admirable and later work of Professor
Latham, "The English Language," London 1841, which is
unquestionably the most valuable work on English Philology and
Grammar, which has yet appeared.

the world spoken in greater purity by the great mass of the people
than in the United States.  In making this assertion he does not
depend wholly on his own observation; it has repeatedly been
made by intelligent Englishmen who have travelled in the United
States, and had an opportunity or judging. On this subject, the
author of an English work, entitled the "Backwoods of Canada,"
has the following judicious remarks: 

"With the exception of some few remarkable expressions, and an
attempt at introducing fine words, the lower order of Yankees have
a decided advantage over our English peasantry in the use of
grammatical language; they speak better English than you will
hear from persons of the same class in any part of England,
Ireland, or Scotland; a fact that we should be unwilling to allow at
home."--P. 83. 

The Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, President of Princeton College, born
and educated in Scotland, made a similar remark in 1784.  In an
essay on language, he says: 

"The vulgar in America speak much better than the vulgar in Great
Britain, for a very obvious reason, viz. that being much more
unsettled, and moving frequently from place to place, they are not
so liable to local peculiarities either in accent or
phraseology."--Works, Vol. IV. p. 281. 

We cannot say as much, however, in favor of our literary dialect.
The ripest scholars among us acknowledge the fact, that in the best
authors and public speakers of Great Britain, there is a variety in
the choice of expressions, a correctness in the use of the particles,
and an idiomatic vigor and freshness of style to which few or none
of our writers can attain. The unfortunate tendency to favor the
Latin at the expense of the Teutonic element of our language,
which social and educational causes have long tended to foster,
has in this country received an additional impulse from the great
admixture of foreigners in our population.  It is not likely that the
pure old idiomatic English style can ever be restored in this
country; but there is no good reason to doubt, that the fusion of the
present rather heterogeneous elements of which our society is
composed, will result in the production of a style and a literature
which will also have their beauties and merits, although fashioned
after a somewhat different model. 

ABISSELFA.  A, by itself, A. It will be recollected by many, that
in the olden time, the first letter of the alphabet was denominated
"abisselfa" when it formed a syllable by itself, in in the word able. 
The scholar, in spelling the word, was taught to say, "a, by itself,a,
(rapidly, abisselfa,) b, l, e,able."  We derive this word and the use
of it from England, where it is used in Suffolk County.--Moor's
Glossary. 

ABOVE-BOARD.  In open sight; without artifice, or trick.  "A
figurative expression," says Johnson, "borrowed from gamesters,
who, when they put their hands under the table, are exchanging
their cards."It is the part of an honest man to dealabove-board, and
without tricks.--L'Estrange.

ABOVE ONE'S BEND.  Out of one's power; beyond reach.  A
common expression in the Western States.I shall not attempt to
describe the curiosities at Peale's Museum; it is above my
bend.--Crockett, Tour down East, p.64.

ABSQUATULATE. To run away, to abscond. Used only in
familiar language.W---- was surrendered by his bail, who was
security for his appearance at court, fearing he was about to
absquatulate.--N. Y. Herald, 1847.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE CORN.  An expression of recent origin,
which has now become very common.  It means to confess, or
acknowledge a charge or imputation.  The following story is told
as the origin of the phrase:Some years ago, a raw customer, from
the upper country, determined to try his fortune at New Orleans. 
Accordingly he provided himself with two flat-boats--one laden
with corn and the other with potatoes--and down the river he went. 
The night after his arrival he went up town, to a gambling house. 
Of course he commenced betting, and his luck proving
unfortunate, he lost.  When his money was gone, he bet his
"truck;" and the corn and potatoes followed the money.  At last,
when completely cleaned out, he returned to his boats at the wharf;
when the evidences of a new misfortune presented themselves. 
Through some accident or other, the flat-boat containing the corn
was sunk, and a total loss.  Consoling himself as well as he could,
he went to sleep, dreaming of gamblers, potatoes, and corn. 

It was scarcely sunrise, however, when he was disturbed by the
"child of chance," who had arrived, to take possession of the two
boats as his winnings.  Slowly awakening from his sleep, our hero,
rubbing his eyes, and looking the man in the face, replied: 
"Stranger, I acknowledge the corn--take 'em; but the potatoes you
can't have, by thunder."--Pittsburgh Com. Advertiser. 

The Evening Mirror very naively comes out and acknowledges the
corn, admits that a demand was made, &c.--New York Herald,
June 27, 1846. 

Mr. Tyler, in reply (to certain charges), boldly acknowledges the
corn, and says that the cards of invitation were signed by him,
&c.--New York Tribune, Jan. 26, 1845. 

Enough, said the Captain.  I'm hoaxed, I'm gloriously hoaxed.  I
acknowledge the corn.--Pickings from the Picayune, p.80.

ACCOUNTABILITY.  The state of being liable to answer for one's
conduct; liable to give account, and to receive reward or
punishment for actions.--Webster.  This word, so much used by
our divines, is not to be found in any English Dictionary except the
recent one of Mr. Knowles. Mr. Todd, in his additions to Johnson's
Dictionary, hasaccountableness, the state of being
accountable.Reason and liberty imply accountableness.--Duncan's
Logic.

We would use accountability instead, as in the following
example:The awful idea of accountability.--Robert Hall.

ADAM'S ALE.  Water.  A colloquial expression, used both in
England and America.To slake his thirst, he took a drink

Of Adam's Ale from river's brink.--Reynard the Fox.

TO ADMIRE.  1. To like very much.  This verb is much and very
absurdly used in New England in expressions like the following: 
"I shouldadmire to see the President."

TO ADMIRE.  2. To wonder at; to be affected with slight
surprise.--Ray.  In New England, particularly in Maine, this word
is used in this sense.  Some of the old English writers so employed
it.

I  perceive these lords

At this rencontre do so much admireThat they devour their
reason.--Shakspeare.

ADOBIES.  (Sp. adobes.)  Sun-baked brick used for building
houses, fortifications, and making inclosures on the Western
frontier of the United States. 

TO ADVOCATE.  (Lat. advoco.  Fr. avocasser.)  To plead, to
support, to defend.--Todd.  To plead in favor of; to defend by
argument before a tribunal; to support or vindicate.--Webster. 

This word has been particularly noticed by recent Lexicographers;
as it is one of that class which has fallen into disuse in England,
and, by English and American critics not familiar with its history,
has been set down as an Americanism.  It is a useful word, and has
long been employed by our best writers. 

In speaking of this word, Mr. Boucher observes in his Glossary,
"that it has been said that it is an improvement of the English
language, which has been discovered by the people of the United
States of North America, since their separation from Great
Britain;" but that it can be shown to be a very common Scottish
word.  Mr. Todd, the learned editor of Johnson's Dictionary, is also
unwilling to allow this concession to us, and says, "It is an old
English word, employed by one of our finest and most manly
writers; and if the Americans affect to plume themselves on
thispretended improvement of our language, let them, as well as
their abettors, withdraw the unfounded claim to discovery, in
turning to the prose writings of Milton.  In the Dictionaries of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, however, as in the Latin of
Thomas, the Spanish of Minshew, the Italian of Florio, and the
French of Colgrave, advoco, advogar, avocare, and  avocasser, are
rendered, not to advocate, but "to play the advocate."

This is the only thing distinct and sensible that has been
advocated.--Burke, Speech on the Reform of Representatives.+ 

"Though this verb is found in Milton," says Mr. Pickering, "yet it
does not appear to have been in common use in England, either at
the time lie wrote, or since that period.  It has very recenly been
adopted by a few other writers, and seems now to be getting into
use in England."  Dr. Webster makes no remarks as to the
legitimacy of the word, but gives several examples of its use. 
From the vocabulary of Mr. Pickering, the Glossary of Mr.
Boucher, and the Dictionary of Dr. Webster, the following
illustrations have been selected.

The members of the College of Justice have this privilege, that
they cannot be pursued before any inferior judge; and if they be,
the lords will advocate the cause to themselves.--Sir Geo.
Mackenzie, Institutes of Law. 

How little claim, persons who advocate this sentiment, really
possess to be considered Calvinists, will appear from the following
quotation.--Mackenzie's Life of Calvin. 

The most eminent orators were engaged to advocate his
cause.--Mitford. 

But from his want of sobermindedness, we cannot always prove
his earnestness in the cause he advocated.--D'Israeli, Quarrels of
Authors.

From American writers are the following examples:

Some are taking unwearied pains to disparage the motive of those
Federalists who advocate the equal support of, &c.- -Alex.
Hamilton. 

I shall on a future occasion examine impartially, and endeavor to
ascertain precisely the true value of this opinion, which is so
warmlyadvocated by all the great orators of antiquity.--J. Q.
Adams, Rhetoric. 

The idea of a legislature consisting of a single branch,
thoughadvocated by some, was generally reprobated.--Ramsey,
Hist. of S. Carolina. 

This seems to be a foreign and local dialect, and cannot
beadvocated by any person who understands correct
English.--Webster, Diss. on the English Language, p.111.

AFEARD.  (Ang. Saxon afered.)  Afraid; frightened; terrified.-
-Todd's Johnson. 

This is a good old English word, though now considered a
vulgarism; and as common in ancient times, as afraid is at present. 
It is provincial in various parts of England, and among uneducated
persons in the United States.A gret ok he coolde breide a doun, as
it a smal gerdo were,

And here forth in his honde, that fole forte afere.--Robt. of
Gloucester. 

With scalled browes blake, and pilled bend;

Of his visage children were sore aferd?--Chaucer, Cant. Tales.+ 

Hal! art thou not horribly afeard?--Shakspeare, Henry IV. 

Chin as woolly as the peach,

And his lips should kissing teach,

Till he cherished too much beard,

And made love or me afear'd.--Ben Jonson, Her Man described.

It has been supposed, that in Chaucer's time, there was a difference
between the significations of afeard and afraid, as in one instance
he employs both in the same verse.

His wife was neither afeard norafraid.--Canterbury Tales.

The following are examples of the use of the word by American
writers:

I an't afeared of the old Harry himself, but I vum! I never dare
speak to Rhody.--Margaret, p.87. 

I promised when I caught him, to give him a licking, and I
wasafear'd I'd have to break the peace.--J. C. Neal, Sketches.

AFORE.  (Sax. ‘foran.)  Before; sooner in time; in front; rather
than.--Todd's Johnson. 

This old word is gone entirely out of use in elegant language.  It is
now provincial in England, and in the United States is used only by
the illiterate.

If your diligence be not speedy, I shall be thereafore
you.--Shakspeare[,] K. Lear. 

Approaching nigh, he roared high aforeHis body monstrous,
horrible, and vast.--Spenser, F. Queen. 

KEEP.  Afore I'll

Endure the tyranny of such a tongue

And such a pride--

POL.  What will you do?

KEEP.  Tell truth.--Ben Jonson.

AFOREHAND.  (Old English.)  Beforehand.  Aforehand in
business, i. e. successful.

Once good English, now a provincialism.

For it will be said, that in the former times, whereof we have
spoken, Spain was not so mighty as now it is; and England, on the
other side, was more aforehand in all matters of power.- -Bacon,
War with Spain.

AFTERCLAPS.  Unexpected events happening after an affair is
supposed to be at an end.--Todd's Johnson. 

Although this is a genuine old English word, it is now seldom
heard except in familiar conversation.

For the next morrow's meed they closely went,

For fear of afterclaps to prevent.--Spenser, Hub. Tale. 

Let that man, who can be so far taken and transported with the
present pleasing offers of a temptation, as to overlook those
dreadfulafterclaps which usually bring up the rear of it.--South,
Sermons, VI. 

She wyll thee graunt it liberally perhappes;

But for all that, beware of afterclaps.--Sir Thomas More.

AFTER NIGHT.  After nightfall; in the evening; as, "A meeting
will be held in the court-house after night."  This expression is said
to be peculiar to Pennsylvania.--Hurd's Grammatical Corrector. 

AGY, for ague; fever-nagy, for 'fever and ague;' common among
the uneducated, wherever this distressing disease is known. 

AHEAD.  Originally a sea-term. Farther onward than
another.--Johnson. 

This word has now become very common, and signifies forward,
in advance.

Our banks, being anxious to make money for their stockholders,
are probably right to drive ahead, regardless of consequences,
&c.--N. Y. Com. Adv. Nov. 29, 1845.

ALBANY BEEF.  Sturgeon; a fish  which  abounds in the Hudson
river; so called by the people in the State of New York. 

ALEWIFE, plur. alewives.  (Indian, aloof.  Alosa vernalis, Storer,
Massachusetts Rep't.)  A fish of the herring kind, abounding in the
waters of New England. 

The name appears to be an Indian one, though it is somewhat
changed, as appears by tile earliest account we have of it.  In
former times, the Indians made use of these fish to manure their
lands, as the menhadenare now used.  Mr. Winthrop says, "Where
the ground is bad or worn out, they put two or three of the fishes
called aloofes under or adjacent to each corn-hill; whereby they
had many times a double crop to what the ground would otherwise
have produced.  The English have learned the like husbandry,
where these aloofes come up in great plenty."--Philosophical
Trans. 1678. 

ALIENAGE.  The state of being an alien.--Webster. 

Neither this nor the following word is to be found in the English
dictionaries, except the recent one of Mr. Knowles.  They are
common, however, in professional books.

Where he sues an executor, &c., the plaintiff'salienage is no
plea.--Laires' Pleading on Assumpsit, p. 687. 

To restore estates, forfeitable on account of alienage.--Chancellor
Kent.

ALIENISM.  The state of being an alien.--Webster, Knowles.

The prisoner was convicted of murder; on his arraignment he
suggested his alienism, which was admitted.--2Johnson's Reports,
381. 

The law was very gentle in the construction of the disability
ofalienism.--Chancellor Kent.

ALLEY.  (Lat. albus, white.)  An ornamented marble, used by boys
for shooting in the ring, &c.; also called in England, a taw.  It is
often made of white marble or of painted clay. 

ALL-FIRED.  Very, in a great degree.  A low American word.

The first thing I know'd, my trowsers were plastered all over with
hot molasses, which burnt all-fired bad.--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p.
87. 

Old Haines sweating ILke a pitcher with ice-water in it, and
lookingall-fired tired.--Porter's Tales of the Southwest, p.50. 

I was woked up by a noise in the street; so I jumps up in an all-
fired hurry, ups with the window, and outs with my head.--Sam
Slick. 

You see the fact is, Squire (said the Hooshier), they had a mighty
deal to say up in our parts about Orleans, and how all-fired easy it
is to make money in it; but it's no ham and all hominy, I
reckon.--Pickings from the Picayune, p.47. 

I'm dying--I know I am!  My mouth tastes like a rusty cent.  The
doctor will charge an all-fired price to cure me.--Knickerbocker
Mag. 1845.

ALL OVER.  Bearing a resemblance to some particular object. 
The word is common in familiar language. 

The Southern Standard, in noticing Dombey and Son, says:  "We
have read this work so far with great interest; it is Dickens all
over."  Meaning that it partakes fully of the character of Dickens's
writings. 

By the following example it appears that English writers use the
word in the same sense.  Sir George Simpson, in speaking of the
indolence of the Californians, and of the deficiencies in all the
comforts of life, says:

The only articles on the bare floor, were some gaudy chairs from
the Sandwich Islands.  This was California all over; the richest and
most influential individual in a professedly civilized country,
obliged to borrow the means of sitting from savages.--Journey
round the World, Vol. I. p.173.+ 

ALL-OVERISH.  Neither sick nor well.  A low word, used both in
England and America. 

TO ALLOT UPON.  To intend, to form a purpose; as, I allot upon
going to Boston.  Used by uneducated people in the interior of
New England. 

TO ALLOW.  To acknowledge, to think.  Used in a very loose
manner like the word guess.

The lady of the cabin seemed kind, andallowed we had better stop
where we were.--Carlton, The New Purchase.

ALL SORTS OF.  A Southern expression, synonymous with
expert, acute, excellent, capital.  It answers to the English slang
term bang-up. It is a prevalent idiom of low life, and often heard in
the colloquial language of the better informed.  A man who in
New England would be called acurious or a smart fellow, would in
the South be called all sorts of a fellow.  Sometimes one hears the
expression "all sorts of a horse," or, "all sorts of a road."

She was all sorts of a gal--there warn't a sprinklin' too much of
her--she had an eye that would make a fellow's heart try to get out
of his bosom;--her step was light as a panther's, and her breath
sweet as a prairie flower.--Robb, Squatter Life.

ALL-STANDING.  Without preparation, suddenly. 

This, like many other common expressions, seems to be borrowed
from the sea.  Thus, a ship in full career, whose course is suddenly
checked by striking against a rock, or by a squall of wind, is said to
be brought-to all-standing, i.e. with all her sails set and unprepared
for stopping.  And hence we say, for instance, of a horseman or an
orator whose course is suddenly checked, that he is brought up
all-standing.

It was no stumble, no pitching head first over a steep precipice; but
on the contrary, I walked directly off the giddy height--to use a
common expression, went over all-standing.- -Kendall's Santa F‚
Expedition.

ALL-TO-SMASH.  Smashed to pieces.  This expression is often
heard in low and familiar language.  It is an English provincialism. 
Mr. Halliwell says, that a Lancashire man, telling his master the
miil-dam had burst, exclaimed, "Maister, maister, dam's brossen,
and aw's-to-smash.--Archaic and Prov. Dictionary.

ALL-WINSOME.  Winsome is a word used in the north  of
England, (Ang. Sax.winsum, pleasant,) sweet, pleasant.  I have
never heard the word, although an American writer thus uses it:

What absence of that anagogical, all-prevalent,all-winsome
Brahminism in Christ!--Margaret, p. 258.

ALONE.  Sole. The German allein is used in like manner
thus,alleinbesitz, sole, exclusive possession; alleinhandel, sole
trade, monopoly.  Mr. Todd says, the English word was formerly
writtenall-one, aud was used in this sense by old writers.  Mr.
Pickering says, "It is often heard from our pulpits in expressions
like the following: The alone God; the alone motive, &c.  It is now
rarely used, although I heard it in a prayer during the present year
(1848).  The following examples from English writers cited by
Johnson and Pickering show its use:

God, by whose alone power and conversation we all live, and
move, and have our being.--Bentley. 

The Legislature never pretended to omnipotence; that is thealone
attribute of the people.--British Critic, Vol. IX. p. 234.

TO AMALGAMATE.  This word, which properly denotes the
compounding or mixing of metals, is universally applied in the
United States to the mixing of the black and white races. 

AMALGAMATION.  The mixing or union of the black and white
races. 

AMAZING.  Wonderfully; very, in a great degree.  A vulgarism.

Everything in New York on a May-day looksamazin' different, and
smells amazin' different, I can tell you.--Maj. Downing, p. 13.

AMAZINGLY.  Exceedingly, very much.  Used only in colloquial
language and applied to trifling things.

Major, I like this 'ere churn amazingly.--Ibid, p. 58.

AMBITION.  In North Carolina this word is used instead of the
wordgrudge, as, "I had an ambition against that man."  I am
credibly informed that it is even used in this manner by educated
men. 

TO AMBITION.  (Fr. ambitionner.)  Ambitiously to seek
after.--Webster.

This is what I ambition for my own country.--Jefferson's
Writings.+ 

This word is not common.  It is not in the English Dictionaries; yet
examples may be found of its use by late English Writers.

On dress occasions, the ladies of the upper ranks despise the
mantilla, ambitioning nothing so much as a fashionable French
bonnet.--London Spectator, June 7, 1845.

AMENABILITY.  State of being amenable or answerable.--Judge
Story. Webster. 

Not in the English Dictionaries. 

AMERICANISM.  A way of speaking peculiar to this country.-
-Witherspoon. 

"By Americanism," says Dr. Witherspoon, "I understand a use of
phrases or terms, or a construction of sentences, even among
persons of rank and education, different from the use of the same
terms or phrases, or the construction of similar sentences, in Great
Britain.  In this sense it is exactly similar in its formation and
signification to the word Scotticism."--Works, Vol. IV. p. 82. 

TO AMERICANIZE.  To render American; to naturalize in
America.--Webster. 

AMOST.  Almost.  A vulgarism alike common in England and the
United States.  E'en amost is often heard in New England. 

AMONG, for between.  This word is often used when reference is
made only to two persons.  Ex. "The money was divided among us
two." 

AMPERSAND.  The character &, representing the conjunction
and.  It is a corruption of "and, per se, and" (and, by itself, and). 
This expression was formerly very common in this country, but
seems now to have gone out of use.  It may, however, be retained
in the interior, where the modern system of education has not
reached.  Mr. Halliwell, who notices this word in his Archaic and
Prov. Dict'y, says, that it is or was common in England.  In
Hampshire it is pronounced amperzed, and very oftenamperze-and. 
 Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes, mentions an ancient alphabet of
the fourteenth century, now in the Harleian Library, at the end of
which is "X Y wyth ESED AND per se--Amen."

ANGELOLOGY.  A discourse on angels; or the doctrine of angelic
beings.--Webster.

These questions may easily be answered, by a proper survey of the
angelology of the Scripture.--Stuart on the Apocalypse, Vol. 11. p.
397.

ANNULMENT.  (Fr. annullement.)  The act of
annulling.--Pickering's Vocab. 

This word was not in any English Dictionary before Todd's edition
of Johnson.

The annulment of the belligerent edicts.--Cor. of Sec'y of State to
Mr. Pinckney, 1810.

AN'T, or AINT.  A common abbreviation in colloquial language
for am not and are not.  It is often improperly used for is not. It is
equally common in England. 

ANTAGONIZING.  Conflicting, opposing.--Pickering's
Vocabulary. 

This word, says Mr. Pickering, has been censured by an American
critic, in the following passage:

Nor can I forbear to remark the tendency ofantagonizing
appeals.--John Q. Adams's Letter to H. G. Otis.

The verb is given by Johnson, hut not the participle, nor is it
noliced by Webster.  Prof. Goodrich has inserted it in his new
edition (184S) of Webster's Dictionary. 

ANTI-FEDERALIST.  "This word was formed about the year
1788, to denote a person of the political party that opposed the
adoption of the Constitution of the United States, which was then
always spoken of by the name of the Federal Constitution.  The
word is not now much used; having been superseded by various
other names, which have been successively given to the same
party."--Pickering's Vocabulary. 

ANTI-SLAVERY.  Hostile to slavery. 

ANTI-MASON.  One hostile to masonry or
free-masonry.--Worcester. 

ANTI-MASONIC.  Hostile to masonry. 

ANY HOW.  At any rate, on any account, in any way.

We have no confidence in cobble-stone pavement for Broadway
any how.--New York Tribune, October 25, 1845.

This expression is not peculiar to this country.

All Nelson wanted was to go to Copenhagen; and he said, "Let it
be by the the Sound, or by the Belt, or any how."- -Nelson's
Despatches, Vol. IV.+ 

ANY HOW YOU CAN FIX IT.  At any rate whatever. 

ANY MANNER OF MEANS.  An expression much used instead
of any means. 

TO APE ONE'S BETTERS.  To imitate one's superiors.

The negroes are good singers; they are an imitative race, and it is
not to be wondered at that in this, as in other things, theyape their
betters.--Newspaper.

APPELLATE.  Relating to appeals.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, &c. the supreme court shall
have original jurisdiction:  In all other cases before mentioned, the
supreme court shall have appellatejurisdiction.-Constitut. of the U.
States, Art. 3. 

The king of France is not the fountain of justice; the judges neither
the original nor the appellate are of his nomination.--Burke,
Revolution.

For a fuller account of this word, about which there has been much
discussion by lexicographers, see Mr. Pickering's Vocabulary,
where many authorities are cited.  It was first given by Mason in
his supplement to Johnson's Dictionary, and was afterwards
adopted by Todd. 

APPLE BUTTER.  A sauce made of apples stewed down in cider. 
This is generally made in quantity, and kept for use during the
winter. 

APPLE BRANDY,}

APPLE JACK.}  A liquor distilled from cider; also called cider
brandy. 

APPLE-PIE ORDER.  An expression used in familiar
conversation, denoting perfect order.  It is used alike in England
and America.--Halliwell's Dict'y.

As the period for the assembling of Congress approaches, an air of
bustling activity is noticeable in everything, from the preparation
of the "Message" down to the scrubbing of door-plates.  The
landladies are putting their lodgings in apple-pie order for the
members, &c.--Newspaper. 

The ferry-boats are kept running in apple-pie order under the
vigilant superintendence of Capt. Woolsey.--New York Tribune.

APPLICANT.  A diligent student.--Pickering's Vocab.  One who
applies himself closely to his studies.  A sense of the word
common in New England. The English appear to use the word only
in the sense of "one who applies for anything," in which sense it is
most commonly employed by us. 

APPOINTABLE.  That may be appointed or constituted; as
officers are appointed by the Executive.--Federalist, Webster.

TO APPRECIATE.  v. a.  To raise the value of.--Webster.

This sense of the word is not in any English dictionary except
Knowles's, which is quite a recent work.

Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money.--Ramsay.

The common use of this verb, however, is, as in England, to set a
just value on.  Also, v. n. to rise in value; as, "the currency of the
country appreciates."--Webster. 

APPRECIATION.  A rising in value; increase of worth or
value.--Webster. 

This noun, like the verb from which it is derived, is commonly
used by us in its appropriate meaning of a just valuation; and this
will hereafter be understood of all similar words where a peculiar
meaning is assigned to them, unless an express statement is made
to the contrary. 

TO APPROBATE.  (Lat. approbo, to approve.)  To express
approbation of; to manifest a liking, or degree of satisfaction; to
expres approbation officially, as of one's fitness for a public
trust.--Webster. 

Dr. Webster observes that this is a modern word, but in common
use in America.  Mr. Todd introduces it in his edition of Johnson,
from Cockeram's old vocabulary, the delinition of which is, to
allow, to like. Mr. Todd says it is obsolete.

All things contained in Scripture isapprobate by the whole consent
of all the clergie of Christendom.--Sir T. Elyot's Governor, fol.
226.

"This word," says Mr. Pickering, "was formerly much used at our
colleges, instead of the old English word approve.  The students
used to speak of having their performances approbated by their
instructors.  It is now in common use with our clergy as a sort of
technical term, to denote a person who is licensed to preach:  they
would say, such a one is approbated, that is, licensed to preach.  It
is also common in New England to say of a person, who is
licensed by the County Courts to sell spirituous liquors, or to keep
a public house, that he isapprobated; and the term is adopted in the
law of Massachusetts on this subject."--Pickering's Vocabulary. 

TO ARGUFY.  To import, to have weight as an argument; to
argue.

This vile word has a place in several of the English glossaries.  In
this country it is only heard among the most illiterate. 

ARK.  The common abbreviation for "Arkansas." 

ARK.  A large boat, used on some of the Western rivers, to
transport merchandise.  Before the use of steamboats, they were
employed on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.  Dr. Harris thus
describes them:  "They are made with plank, fastened upon ribs or
knees, by wooden bolts.  They are from twelve to fifteen feet wide,
and from forty to sixty long; carrying, commonly, sixty or eighty
tons burden.  They float down the stream with the current, and are
not worked with oars, except to direct and propel them to the
shore.  These boats go down the river to New Orleans; and after
discharging their cargoes, they are taken apart, aud sold for lumber
with very little loss."--Tour in Ohio in 1803. 

ARY, either.  A vulgarism used by the illiterate. 

AS GOOD AS GO.}

AS GOOD'S GO.}  In the phrase, I'd as good's go to New York,
instead of "I might as well go to New York."  "I'd as good's do
this," for, I may as well do this.  Only heard among the illiterate. 

ASH-HOPPER.  A lie cask, or an inverted pymmidal box to
contain ashes, resembling a hopper in a mill.  They are common in
the country, where people make their own soap. 

ASSOCIATION.  In ecclesiastical affairs, a society of the clergy,
consisting of a number of pastors of neighboring churches, united
for promoting the interests of religion and the harmony of the
churches.--Webster. 

ASSOCIATION.  In civil affairs, this word is much used at the
present day, to denote the principle of uniting the producing
classes in societies, for the purpose of obtaining for themselves a
larger share of the fruits of their labor.

The citizens of Illinois are well prepared forAssociation.  They are,
to a great extent, freed from the prejudices and bigotry which
pervade every nook and corner of the older States.  There is here a
feeling of liberality--a spirit of inquiry, before which spurious
Civilization c~n(e4 cannot long make headway.  We say to all
friends ofAssociation, come West.  But we+ 

say, at the same time, don't come, until you are convinced it is for
your interest and the interest of the cause ofAssociation that you
should come.--New York Tribune. 

We do not claim that our Rules are perfect, but we wish to make
them so; being firmly convinced that the Science taught by Fourier
will ultimately lead us into true Association, if we follow it as a
science, and that we must have some correct rules of progress to
govern us during the transition period from Civilization to
Association.- -Ibid.

ASSOCIATIONAL. Pertainiug to an association of clergymen.-
-Webster.

In order to obtain a license, and afterwards to be admitted to
ordination, they (the students in divinity) must, in each case, pass
through the Associational or Presbyterian examination.--Quarterly
Rev., 1815.

ASSOCIATIONIST.  One who advocates the Fourier doctrine of
association. 

AT, for by.  Used in this expression, "Sales at auction." 

The English say--"Sales by auction," and this is in analogy with the
expressions--Sales by inch of candle; sales byprivate
contract.--Pickering's Vocab. 

Sometimes English writers use the word as we do.

Those execrable wretches, who could become purchasers at the
auction of their fellow-creatures.--Burke's Reflections.

ATHEN’UM.  A building or an apartment, where a library,
periodicals, and newspapers are kept for public use, or for a
reading room.--Webster. 

ATOP.  On or at the top, upon.  Atop of a horse.  A vulgarism
common in England and America. 

ATTACKTED, for attacked.  This corruption is only heard among
the most illiterate. 

It is common also in the dialect of the lower classes in
London.--Pegge's Anecdotes. 

ATTITUDINIZE.  To assume affected attitudes.--Worcester. 

AUSPICATE.  (Lat. auspicio.)   To foreshow or fotetell the event.-
-Richardson.  This old word, though unnoticed by Johnson, may be
found in Holland's translations, Ben Jonson and other early writers. 
It is but rarely used at the present day.

King Edward therefore presented himself before the strong towne
of Berwick, with a mighty haste, there to auspicate his entrance to
a conquest of England.--Speed, History of Great Britain. 

Would to God I could auspicate good influences.--Webster's
Speech.+ 

AUTHORESS.  A female writer who has printed her
compositions.--Jodrell's Philology. 

The use of this word has been questioned in England.  It is not in
Johnson's Dictionary, and as he says, it is not much used.  This was
sixty years ago.  The British Critic, in the year 1793, says of it,
"We do not acknowledge the word."  Since that time Mr. Todd has
inserted it in his edition of Johnson's Dictionary, from Cotgrave,
(French, authrice, or autrix, authoress, or actress,) and defines it, "a
female efficient." This sense of the word is different from that in
which we use it.

O Amarillis, auth'ress of my flame!--Fanshawe, Pasi. Fido. 

Albeit, his (Adam's) loss, without God's mercy, was absolutely
irrecoveralbe; yet we never find he twitted her as authoress of his
fall.--Feltham. 

Mrs. Montagu, the justly celebrated authoress of the Essay on the
Genius and Writings of our Author.--Steven's Notes, Hamlet. 

AUTHORITY.  In Connecticut the justices of the peace are
denominatedthe civil authority.--Webster. 

Mr. Pickering says, "This word is also used in some of the States
in speaking collectively of the professors, &c. of our colleges, to
whom  the government of those institutions is intrusted."

"The authority required him to give bonds for his good
behavior."--Miss H. Adams's Hist. of New England, p. 64.

AVAILED.  Dr. Witherspoon notices this word as used in the
following exaniple:--"The members of a popular government
should be continually availed of the situation and condition of
every part."-- Works, Vol. IV. p. 296. 

The newspapers sometimes say "an offer" (for instance) "was maid
but not availed of." 

AVAILS.  Profits, or proceeds.  It is used in New England for the
proceeds of goods sold, or for rents, issues, or profits.--Webster. 

Expecting to subsist on the bounty of government, rather than on
the avails of their own industry.--Stoddard's Louisiana.

It is used in other ports of the country in like manner. 

AVERSE.  On the use of this word, Mr. Pickering has the
following remarks:  "American writers, till within some years past,
generally employed the preposition to instead of fromwith this
adjective.  Dr. Witherspoon thinks, that "as averseproperly
signifies turned away, it seems an evident improvement to
sayaverse from;" and the Scottish writers generally seem to have
preferred this.  Dr. Campbell, however, observes, that " the
wordsaverse and aversion are more properly construed withto, than
with from.  The examples in favor of the latter preposition, are,
beyond comparison, outnumbered by those in favor of the former. 
The argument from etymology is here of no value, being taken
from the use of another language.  If, by the same rule, we were to
regulate all nouns and verbs of Latin original, our present syntax
would be overturned."--Campbell's Rhetoric.  Dr. Webster remarks
to the same effect.  Mr. Todd says many examples may be brought
to show the prevalent use of the word from in connection with
averse, before Clarendon; but now the usage of to prevails. 

AWFUL, adj.  1. Disagreeable, detestable, ugly. 

A word much used among the common people in New England,
and not unfrequently among those who are educated.  The
expression, "anawful-looking woman," is as often heard as "an
ugly woman."

The country people of the New England States make use of many
quaint expressions in their conversation.  Everything that creates
surprise is awful with them:  "what an awful wind!awful hole!
awful hill! awful mouth! awfulnose!" &c.--Lambert's Travels in
Canada and the U. S.

The practice of moving on the first day of May, with one-half the
New-Yorkers, is an awful custom.--Maj. Downing, May-day in N.
Y.

AWFUL.  Very great, excessive.  This sense of the word is peculiar
to the West.

Pot-pie is the favorite dish, and woodsmen, sharp set are awful
eaters.--Carlton, The New Purchase, vol. I. p. 182.

It is even used in this sense adverbially, and with still greater
impropriety, like many other adjectives.  Thus we not unfrequently
hear such expressions as "an awful cold day." 

AWFULLY.  Exceedingly, excessively.

The chimneys were awfully given to smoking.--Carlton, New
Purchase.+ 

We give an example of the same use of this word by a popular
English writer.

The Ottoman horseman, raised by his saddle to a great height
above the humble level of the back which he bestrides, and using
an awfully sharp hit, is able to lift the crest of his nag,
&c.--E”then, p. 13.

TO AXE.  (Ang. Sax. aesian, axian.)  To ask.

This word is now considered a vulgarism; though, like many others
under the same censure, it is as old as the English language. 
Among the early writers it was used the same as ask is now.  In
England it still exists in the colloquial dialect of Norfolk and other
counties.  A true born Londoner, says Pegge, in his Anecdotes of
the English Language, always axes questions, axes pardon, and at
quadrilles,axes leave.  In the United States it is somewhat used by
the vulgar.- -Forby's Vocabulary.  Richardson's Dic.

And Pilate axide him, art thou Kyng of Jewis? And Jhesus
answeride and seide to him, thou seist.--Wiclif, Trans of the Bible. 

A poor lazar, upon a tide,

Came to the gate, and axed meate.--Gower, Con. Anc.

Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, in a letter to her son,
Henry VII., concludes with--

As herty blessings as ye can axe of God.--Lord Howard.

In the next reign, Dr. John Clarke writes to Cardinal Wolsey, and
tells him that--

The King axed after your grace's welfare.- -Pegge's Anecdote. 

Day before yesterday, I went down to the Post Office, andax'd the
Post-master if there was anything for me.--Maj. Jones's Courtship,
p. 173. 

I have often axed myself what sort of a gall that splendiferoos
Lady of the Lake of Scott's was.-- Sam Slick in Eng., ch. 30.

B.

TO KNOW b FROM A bull's foot.  It is a common phrase to say,
"He does not know B from a bull's foot," meaning that a person is
very illiterate, or very ignorant.  The term bull's foot is chosen
merely for the sake of the alliteration; as in the similar phrases,
"He does not know B from a broomstick;" or "B from a
battledoor."  It is a very old saying; Mr. Halliwell finds it in one of
the Dighy MSS.

I know not an A from the wynd mylne,

Ne a B from a bole-foot, I trowe, ni thiself nother.





Archaic and Provincial Glossary.

BAA-LAMB.  A pet term for a lamb in England and America. 

BACHELOR'S BUTTON. (Lychnis sylvestris.)  The common
name of a flower, supposed by country people to have some
magical effect upon the fortunes of love.  It seems to have grown
into a phrase for being unmarried, "to wear bachelor's buttons," in
which, probably, a quibble was intended.--Nare's Glossary.

He wears Bachelor's Buttons, does he not?- -Heywood, Fair Maid.

BACK, is often used for ago; as in the phrase, "a little while back,"
i. e. "a short time ago." 

BACK AND FORTH.  Backwards and forwards, applied to a
person in walking, as, "He was walking back and forth."  A
common expression in the familiar language of New England. 

BACKWOODS.  The partially cleared forest region on the western
frontier of the United States, called also the back settlements.  This
part of the country is regarded as the back part or rear of
Anglo-American civilization, which fronts on the Atlantic.  It is
rather curious that the English word back has thus acquired the
meaning of western, which it has in several Oriental languages,
and also in Irish. 

BACKWOODSMAN.  In the United States, an inhabitant of the
forest on the Western frontier.--Webster.

The project of transmuting the classes of American citizens and
converting sailors into backwoodsmen is not too monstrous for
speculators to conceive and desire.--Fisher Ames's Works, p.144. 

I presume, ladies and gentlemen, it is your curiosity to hear the
plain uneducated backwoodsman in his home style.--Crockett's
Tour, p.126.

TO BACK OUT.  To retreat from a difficulty, to refuse to fulfil a
promise or engagement.  A metaphor borrowed from the stables. 

Mr. Bedinger, in his remarks in the House of Representatives on
the Mexican war, Jan. 25, 1848, said:

He regretted the bloodshed in Mexico, and wished it would stop. 
But, he asked, would gentlemen be willing to back out, and
forsake our rights?  No, no.  No turning back. This great country
must go ahead.+ 

The Whigs undertook to cut down the price of printing to a fair
rate, but at last backed out, and voted to pay the old prices.--N. Y.
Tribune. 

To all appearance, we are on the eve of a bloody contest, if not a
revolution.  What will be the consequence?  One or the other party
mustback out, or no one can tell what will be the result.--Nat.
Intelligencer.

BACK.  Behind the Back.  When a person is slandered in his
absence, it is said to be done behind his back, that is, in secret, or
when his back is turned.  It is the same as backbiting.

Where behind a man's back

For though he praised, he fint some lacke.--Gower's Conf. A. 62.

BAD, for Ill, as, I feel very bad to-day; also, formuch. 

BAD BOX.  To be in a bad box, is to be in a bad predicament.

I began to be afraid now I'd got into rather abad box.--Maj.
Downing.

BACON.  To save one's bacon.  A vulgar expression, meaning to
save one's flesh from injury, to preserve one's flesh from harm or
from punishment.  We say also, to escape with whole skin.  A very
old phrase.

What frightens you thus, my good son? says the priest;

You murder'd, are sorry, and have been confest.

Oh, father! my sorrow will scarce save my bacon;

For 'twas not that I murder'd, but that I was taken.--Prior's Poems.

BAGGAGE.  Literally, what is contained in a bag or bags.  The
clothing or conveniences which a traveller carries with him on a
journey.  This word is applied by us to the trunks, clothing, &c. of
a traveller.  The English now use the less appropriate term
luggage.  Baggage was formerly used by them.

Having dispatched my baggage by water to Altdorf.--Coxe.

This is sometimes called more fully bag and baggage.

Seventeen members of Congress arrived to-day with their bag and
baggage.--Washington Paper.

BAGGING.  A coarse linen cloth, chiefly manufactured in
Kentucky, for packing cotton in. 

BAIL.  (Fr. baille.)  The handle of a pail, bucket, or kettle.--Forby's
Glossary.  A common word throughout New England. 

TO BAIL, OR BALE.  Literally, to lade out with a bail or bucket. 
A sailor's term, applied to lading water from a boat.

BALANCE.  A mercantile word originally introduced into the
ordinary language of life by the southern people, but now common
throughout the United States, signifying the remainder of anything. 
Thebalance of money, or the balance of an account, are terms well
authorized and proper; but we also frequently hear such
expressions as the "balance of a speech;" "the balance of the day
was idly spent;" "a great many people assembled at the church:  a
part got in, thebalance remained without."

The yawl returned to the wreck, took ten or eleven persons and
landed them, and then went and got the balance from the floating
cabin.--Albany Journal, Jan. 7, 1846. 

Most of the respectable inhabitants held commissions in the army
or government offices; the balance of the people kept little shops,
cultivated the ground, &c.--Williams's Florida, p.115.

BALDERDASH.  Empty babble, nonsensical talk.  The etymology
of this word is doubtful, for in no word do writers more widely
differ.  It seems to be connected with the Icelandic bulder, "the
prating of fools" (Jamieson); and the Welsh ball dardd or ball
dordd, "to babble, prate, or talk idly" (Boucher).  It is chiefly used
in conversation.

They would no more live under the yoke of the sea, or have their
heads washed with his bubbly spurm or
barber'sbalderdash.--Nashe. 

Mine is such a drench of balderdash.--Beaumont and Fletcher. 

Enough (the king) all balderdash!

I'll none of it! so cease the trash!--Reynard the Fox, p.24

BALLYHACK--Go to Ballyhack; a common expression in New
England.  I know not its origin.  It savors in sound, however, of the
Emerald Isle.

You and Obed are here too. 

Let Obed go to Ballyhack.  Come along out.--Margaret, p. 55

TO BAMBOOZLE.  To deceive; to impose upon; to
confound.--Todd's Johnson.  To make a fool of any one; to
humbug or impose upon him.--Grose, Prov. Dic. 

Mr. Todd calls it a cant word from bam, a cheat.  It is provincial in
England, and is seldom heard here except at political meetings or
in familiar conversation.

After Nick had bamboozled about the money, John called for
counters.--Arbuthnot.+ 

All the people upon earth, excepting those two or three worthy
gentlemen, are imposed upon, cheated, babbled,
abused,bamboozled!--Addison. 

The New Yorkers have appointed Van Buren men as delegates to
the Baltimore convention.  If the Calhoun men can abide such
dictation without a wry face, they deserve to be thus babbled and
bamboozled.--Boston Atlas. 

The fact is--we reiterate it with increased corroboration from
[accumulating] evidences--the fact is, the South are to be
bamboozledupon this subject of the tariff.  Yes, sir, in the language
of Col. Benton, which in the Senate, on Clay's bank bill, he proved
to be legitimate English from Richardson's quarto Dictionary,
"they are to be bamboozled, sir- -the are to be
bamboozled!"--Congressional Debates.

BANG.  To beat, i. e. excel, to surpass.  "This bangs all
things."--Ohio. 

BANKER.  A vessel employed in fishing on the banks of
Newfoundland. "There were employed in the fisheries 1232
vessels, viz. 584 to the Banks, 648 to the Bay and Labrador; the
Bankers may be put down at 36,540 tons."

The vessels that fish at the Labrador and Bay are not so valuable as
the bankers, more particularJy those from Maine, Connecticut and
Rhode Island.--J. Q. Adams on the Fisheries, p. 219.

BANKABLE.  Receivable at a bank, as bills; or discountable as
notes.--Webster. 

Among the great variety of bank notes which constitute our
circulating medium, many are below par, and consequently are not
received at the Banks.  Those only, which are redeemed with
specie or its equivalent, are received at the Banks, and are of the
class called bankable. 

In New York, at auction sales, the auctioneer, in stating the
conditions of the sale, if for cash, invariably states, that the money
must be bankable; otherwise the purchaser would be likely to pay
him in bank notes below par. 

BANK-BILL.  A bank-note. 

Neither Johnson nor the other lexicographers have the term
bank-note, though they all have bank-bill, which Johnson defines,
"a note for money laid up in a bank, at the sight of which the
money is paid." 

In the United States these are invariably called bank-bills, while in
England this term is obsolete, and bank-notes universally used.

BANNOCK. (Gaelic, bonnach. Irish, boinneag.)  In Scotland, a
cake of oatmeal baked on an iron plate.

Behind the door a bag of meal;

And in the kist was plenty

Of good hard cakes his mither bakes;

And bannocks were nae scanty.--Scotch Songs, II. 71.

In New England, cakes of Indian meal, fried in lard, are
calledbannocks. 

BAR, for bear.  The common pronunciation in certain parts of the
Southern and Western States. 

BANQUETTE.  The name for the side-walk in some of our
Southern cities. 

BARBECUE.  A term used in the Southern States and in the West
Indies, for dressing a hog whole; which being split to the
back-bone, is laid flat upon a large gridiron, and roasted over a
charcoal fire.--Johnson. Webster. 

Formerly it was customary to make a fire in a large hole in the
ground, lined with stones, and then to put the hog in whole and
cover it up until cooked.

Oldfield, with more than harpy throat endu'd,

Cries, "Lend me, gods, a whole hog barbecued.["]-- Pope.

TO BARK ONE'S SHINS.  To knock the skin off the shins by
stumbling or striking against something. 

Mr. Hortshorne calls this a very old metaphor, aud says is found in
the ancient popular poetry of Scotland.--Shropshire Glossary.

Berdiug her selffe to hym apace

She cryed him mercy then,

And pylled the barke even of hys face

With her commaundments ten. 

Neist Sanderson fratch'd wid a hay-stack,

And Deavison fught wi' the whins;

Smith Leytle fell out wi' the cobbles,

And peel'd aw the bark off his shins.--Cumberland Ballads.

TO BARK OFF SQUIRRELS.  A common way of killing squirrels
among those who are expert with the rifle, in the Western States, is
to strike with the ball the bark of the tree immediately beneath the
squirrel; the concussion produced by which, kills the animal
instantly without mutilating it.--Audubon, Ornithology, Vol. I. p.
294. 

TO BARK UP THE WRONG TREE.  A common expression at the
West, denoting that a person has mistaken his object, or is
pursuing the wrong course to obtain it.  A metaphor of Western
origin.  In hunting, a dog drives a squirrel or other game into a
tree, where, by a constant barking, he attracts its attention, until
the hunter arrives.  Sometimes the game escapes, or the dog is
deceived and barks up the wrong tree.

When people try to hunt (office) for themselves, ...... and seem to
be barking up the wrong sapling, I want to put them on the right
trail.--Crockett's Tour, p.205.

BARRACLADE.  (Dutch barre kledeeren, cloths undressed or
without a nap.)  A home-made woolen blanket without nap.  This
word is peculiar to New York city, and those parts of the State
settled by the Dutch. 

BARN-DOOR FOWL.  The common fowl; also so called in
Scotland.--Jamieson.

Never had there been such slauthering of capons, and fat geese,
and barn-door fowls.--Bride of Lammermoor.

BARRENS.  Elevated lands, or plains upon which grow small
trees, but never timber.  Pine barrens are common throughout the
United States. 

BASE.  A game of hand-ball. 

TO BASE.  To lay the foundation of an argument.  This word is
not in the English Dictionaries in this sense.  We say, for example,
"He baseshis arguments on these facts."  It is used in good
language both in England and America. 

The Washington correspondent of the N. Y. Journal of Commerce,
in speaking of a rumor that Mr. Pakenham had made overtures to
our Government, says:

The rumor is based upon a very general belief that Mr. P. has
instructions of a discretionary kind to resume the negotiation. 

We learn, that the revolution (in Mexico) is based upon the
disavowal by the late Mexican Congress of the treaties made with
the Yucatecos by Santa Anna.--New Orleans Picayune.

BAYOU.  (French, boyau, a gulf.)  In Louisiana, the outlet of a
lake; a channel for water.

BARNBURNERS.  The nickname of onc of the present divisions
of the great Democratic party, otherwise called the Young
Democracy; the other is called the Old Hunker. 

The following editorial of the Ohio Union, a Democratic paper in
Cincinnati, will define the political sentiments of these parties: 

There is one class of the Democratic party which seeks the
retention of power in the hands of a few--the direction of the
disposition of offices would if possible restrain the impulses of tho
Democracy--would check its progressive tendency--is unfavorable
to, or fearful of, the extension of the "area of freedom," and in
fine, in the language of Alexander Hamilton, would restrain "the
amazing violence of the popular or democratic spirit."  Who would
likewise prescribe a fixed rule for present and future, by which the
Democracy of every man should be judged, leaving no margin for
honest differences on minor points, and would proscribe all who
do not fit the dimensions of their intellect, feelings, and opinions,
to the Procrustes bed which they have made for them.  This is the
class which we denominate "Old Hunkers." 

There is another class, who would divide power among the many;
would leave it entirely where it belongs, with the masses
thepeople--who would have offices filled by men, taken from
among the people, and not confined to those who live by office
and make politics a trade--who have sympathies with the people,
understand their interests aud feelings, and will seek to have both
satisified, while they honestly and faithfully discharge the duties of
their offices--who care less about the disposition of offices than
they do about the principles of Democracy and the measures and
policy of the Government--who desire always and continually the
"extension of the area of freedom"--who believe that the
Democratic impulses are right and should be obeyed, and not
thwarted--who would admit to the ranks of Democracy ALL who
agree with us, upon the cardinal principles of Democracy and upon
the great national policy, now acted upon by the General
Government--who believe in and favorprogress, and would not
prescribe a fixed rule in all minor matters for all time, but would
adapt action to the circumstances and exigencies which arise in the
progression of events, and to the rights and interests which
accompany or result from that progression and its cllanges.  And
finally, who have in their hearts "sworn eternal hostility against
every form of tyranny over the mind of man." These we
denominate "the young Democracy."  This is progressive "Young
Democracy." 

"OLD HUNKERS."  We have been requested to give a definition
of this term.  Party nicknames are not often logically justified; and
we can only say that that section of the late dominant party in this
State (the democratic) which claims to be the more radical,
progressive, reformatory, &c.+ 

bestowed the appellation "Old Hunker" on the other section to
imdicate that it was distinguished by opposite qualities from those
claimed for itself.  We believe the title was also intended to
indicate that those on whom it was conferred had an appetite for a
largehunk of "the spoils"--though we never could discover that
they were peculiar in that.  On the other band, the opposite school
was termedBarnburners, in allusion to the story of an old
Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by burniug his barns which
they infested--just like exterminating all Banks and Corporations
to root out the abuses connected therewith.  The fitness or
unfitness of these family terms of endearment is none of our
business.--N. Y. Tribune. 

They have gone into such depths of Barnburning Radicalism, that
a large portion of the rank and file are determined not to
follow.--Ibid.

BE (Ang. Sax. beo, 1st person sing. and 1st, 2d, aud 3d plur. 
SeeRask's Gram. p. 84), instead of am and are.  Ex. Be you cold? 
Where be you going?  This use of this word is confined to
uneducated people.  It is common in several of the provincial
dialects of England.  In the Bible it often occur instead of are.

Let them shew the former things what they be, that we may
consider them.--Isaiah xli. 22.

BEAD.  The bubbles which rise on a glass of wine or spirits, by
which the strength and quality of the article is known.

Deacon Penrose.  Will the Parson taste a little of our New England
rum?  We call it a prime article, and think it the very best we ever
made. 

Abel Wilcox.  It has as handsome a bead as I ever saw; and we
think it possesses a flavor like the West Indies. 

Parson Welles.  Truly in the words of Scripture, we must say,
"Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish."  We need
something to make our faces shine these dark times.--Margaret, p.
310. 

Mr. Bagley broke three slim glasses in the attempt to raise
abead.--Drama at Pokerville.

BEAKER.  (Germ. becher, Dutch beker.) A tumbler.  "This word,"
says Mr. Pickering, "not many years ago was in common use in
New England, as well as in some other parts of the United States;
but it is now seldom heard except among old people."  We derive
it from our ancestors from Norfolk and Suffolk counties, where it
is still provincial.  It is also used in the north of England and in
Scotland.--Jamieson.  Forby.

And into pikes and musketeers,

Stamp'd beakers, cups, and porringers.--Butler's Hudibras.+ 

TO BE AMONG THE MISSING.  To be absent, to leave, to run
away.

There comes old David for my militia fine; I don't want to see him,
and think I will be among the missing.

BEAR, for bar.  Connecticut and Virginia. 

BEAR.  A word to denote a certain description of
stock-jobbers.--Johnson. 

The same term is used among the brokers and stock-jobbers of
Wall street, New York.  Their plans of operation are as accurately
described in the annexed extract from Warton, as they can be at
the present moment: 

He who sells that of which he is not possessed, is proverbially said
to sell the skin before he has caught the bear.  It was the practice
of stock-jobbers, in the year 1720, to enter into a contract for
transfering South Sea stock at a future time for a certain price; but
he who contracted to sell, had frequently no stock to transfer, nor
did he who bought intend to receive any in consequence of his
bargain; the seller was therefore called a bear, in allusion to the
proverb, and the buyer abull, perhaps only as it similar distinction. 
The contract was merely a wager, to be determined by the rise or
fall of stock; if it rose, the seller paid the difference to the buyer,
proportioned to the sum determined by the same computation to
the seller.--Dr. Warton on Pope. 

The stock speculators of Wall street are denominated Bull- backers
or Bear-traps, according to the nature of their operations.  The first
signifies that they have bought stock largely and hold it; and the
second, that they have sold stock which they have not got, and
trust to circumstances to be able to supply it.  The brokers
themselves in these cases are called Bulls and Bears.--A Walk in
Wall Street, p. 80.

There has been a very important revolution made in the tactics of a
certain extensive operator in Wall street. The largestbull in the
street has become a bear, and the rank and file have been thrown
into the greatest confusion and left without a leader.--N. Y. Herald. 

Some of the operators (in Wall street, owing to the rise in stocks),
who were the strongest bears last week, are now
roaringbulls.--Ibid. 

An attack has recently been made upon the Reading Road in one
of the city papers, evidently suggested by the bears.--N. Y.
Tribune, 1848.+ 

TO BEAR A HAND.  A seaman's phrase.  To be ready ; to go to
work; to assist. 

BEAST.  A common name for a horse in the Southern States. 

TO BEAT.  To excel, surpass in a contest.  Thus we say, one racer
or steamer beats another. 

Also, to overcome with astonishment, to surprise.  We sometimes
hear, especially from the mouths of old people, such expressions
as "I feltbeat," "I was quite beat," i. e. utterly astonished. 

TO BEAT ALL HOLLOW.  To surpass or overcome completely;
thus, "Eclipsebeat Sir Henry all hollow."  Also, to take wholly by
surprise.

The number of ships in New York beat me all hollow, and looked
for all the world like a big clearing in the West, with the dead trees
all standing.--Crockett, Tour down East, p. 27.

This phrase seems to be common in England.  There, however,
they do not use the word all, which invariably forms a part of it
here.

The author of "The Diary of a Physician"beats Walter Scott
hollow, in the attempt which he describes his martyr-philosopher
as making to correct La Place.--London Athen‘um, Dec. 6, 1845.

A late English traveller under the assumed name of Rubio, says:

I used to think the English might defy all creation for bad coffee;
but the Americans beat us hollow.--Travels in the United States.

BECASE, for because.  A common vulgarism. 

BED-SPREAD.  In the interior parts of the country, the common
name for abed-quilt, or coverlet. 

BEE.  An assemblage of people, generally neighbors, to unite their
labors for the benefit of one individual or family.  The
quilting-bees in the interior of New England and New York, are
attended by young women, who assemble around the frame of a
bed-quilt, and in one afternoon accomplish more than one person
could in weeks.  Refreshments and beaux help to render the
meeting agreeable.  Husking-bees, for husking corn, are held in
barns, which are made the occasion of much frolicking.  In new
countries, when a a settler arrives, the neighboring farmers unite
with their teams, cut the timber and build him a log-house in a
single day; these are termed raising-bees.  Apple-bees are
occasions when the neighbors assemble to gather apples, or cut out
them up for drying. 

BEE-LINE.  To take a bee-line, is to take the most direct or
straight way from one point to another.  Bees in returning to their
hives after having loaded themselves with honey always fly back
to the hive in a direct line. For a further explanation see the phrase
lining bees.

This road is one of nature's laying.  It goes determinedly straight
up and straight down the hills, and in a "bee line" as we say.--Mrs.
Clavers[.] 

I acknowledge the corn, boys, that when I started my track warn't
anything like a bee-line;--the sweeten'd whiskey had made me
powerful thick-legged.--Robb, Squatter Life.

BEECH-LE-MAR.  (Fr. biche de mer.)  A kind of slug taken on the
coast of some of the South sea islands, where it is cured for the
China trade.--See Morel's Voyage. 

BEING.  (Also pronounced bein, been.)  Pres. part. of the verb to
be, equivalent to because. 

This word is noticed by Boucher, as much in use in the Middle
States of America, and as an idiom of the Western counties of
England.  It is also heard among the illiterate in New England.

"I sent you no more peasen, been the rest would not leave suited
you."--Boucher's Glossary. 

The mug cost 15d. when 'twas new, but bein it had an old crack in
it, I told her she needn't pay but a shilling for it.--Maj. Downing. 

Bein' ye'll help Obed, I'll give ye the honey.--Margaret, p. 20.

BELITTLE.  To make smaller; to lower in character.--Webster. 

This word is but little used, either in conversation or in
composition.  President Jefferson is the only writer of authority
who has used it.--Notes On Virginia.

I won't stand that, said Mr. Slick, I won't stay here and see you
belittle Uncle Sum for nothin'.  He ain't worse than John Bull, arter
all.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 19.

BELLWORT.  The popular name of plants of the genus Uvularia.

BENDER.  In New York, a spree; a frolic.  To go on a bender, is to
go on a spree.

Thus did Harry Whitmore address C. M---, when the[] met, the
morning after the trio had determined to go on a
bender.--Mysteries of N. York.

BENT GRASS.  (Genus, agrostis.) The popular name in the
Northern States for a common grass, sometimes called red-top. 

BERATE.  To revile; to abuse in vile language.--Worcester. 

This is a common word in New England, and is not in the English
glossaries.  Mr. Worcester quotes Holland for his authority. 

BESTOWMENT.  1. The act of giving gratuitously; a
conferring.--Webster. 

This word, which is much used by our theological writers, is not in
the English dictionaries.

God the Father had committed the bestowmentof the blessings
purchased, to his Son.--Edwards on Redemption. 

If we consider the bestowment of gifts in this view.--Chauncey, U.
Lab.

2.  That which is conferred or given.--Webster.

They strengthened his hands by their liberalbestowments on him
and his family.--Christian Magazine, iii. 665. 

The free and munificent bestowment of the Sovereign
Judge.--Thodey.

Mr. Todd has bestowal in his edition of Johnson, but cites no
authority for its use.  Dr. Webster thinks bestowment preferable on
account of the concurrence of the two vowels in bestowal. 

BETTER, for more; as, "It is better than a year since we met." 

BETTERMENTS.  (Generally used in the plural number.)  The
improvements made on new lands, by cultivation and the erection
of buildings.--Pickering's Vocabulary. 

"This word," adds Mr. Pickering, "was first used in the State
ofVermont, but it has for a long time been common in the State
ofNew Hampshire; and it has been getting into use in some parts
ofMassachusetts, since the passing of the late law, similar to
theBetterments Acts (as they are called) of the States above
mentioned. It is not to be found in Mr. Webster's, nor in any of the
English dictionaries that I have seen except Ash's; and there it is
called 'a bad word.'  It is thus noticed by an English traveller in this
country, in speak- ing of those people who enter upon new lands
without any right and proceed to cultivate them:

These men demand either to be left owners of the soil or paid for
their betterments, that is, for what they have done towards clearing
the ground.--Kendall, Travels in the United States, Vol. III p. 160.

BETTERMOST.  The best.  Used in New England.

The bettermost cow, an expression we do not find in Shakspeare or
Milton.--Mrs. Kirkland.

BETTY.  (Ital. boccetta.)  A pear-shaped bottle wound around with
straw in which olive oil is brought from Italy.  Called by chemists
a Florence flask. 

B'HOYS. i. e Boys, a name applied to a class of noisy young men
of the lower ranks of society in the city of New York. 

The New York Commercial Advertiser, April 12, 1847, in
speaking of the approaching election, uses the following language:

All the b'hoys will vote, aye, more than all. Let every Whig do his
duty.  Another year with a Democratic Mayor--and such a Mayor
as the b'hoys would force upon the city!  Who can tell what the
taxes will be?

BIDDY.  A domestic fowl; a chicken.  A term generally used in
calling fowls to eat. 

BIBLE CHRISTIANS.  The Philadelphia Mercury thus gives a
summary of the creed of this new sect:  "This denomination
abstain from all animal food and spirituous liquors, and live on
vegetables and fruits.  They maintain the unity of God, the divinity
of Jesus, and the salvation of man, attainable only by a life of
obedience to the light manifested to his mind and a grateful
acknowledgment of his indebtedness to the great Giver of all.  The
congregation numbers about seventy members." 

BIG-BUGS.  People of consequence.

Then we'll go to the Lord's house--I don't mean to the meetin'
house, but where the nobles meet, pick out the big-bugs, and see
what sort o' stuff they're made of.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 24. 

These preachers dress like big-bugs, and go ridin' about on
hundred-dollar horses, a-spungin' poor priest-ridden folks, and
a-eaten chicken-fixens so powerful fast that chickens has got
scarce in these diggins.--Carlton's New Purchase, Vol. II p. 140.

BIG-WIGS.  People of consequence.  The same as the last.

Demagogues and place-hunters make the people stare by telling
them how big they talked and what great things they did to
thebig-wigs to home.--Sam Slick.+ 

BIG FIGURE.  To do things on the big figure, means to do them
on a large scale.  This vulgar phrase is used at the West and South.

Well, I glory in her spunk, but it's monstrous expensive and
unpleasant to do things on the big figure that she's on now.--Maj.
Jones's Courtship.

BILBERRY, (genus vaccinium.)  The popular name of a shrub of
several species, and bearing fruit resembling the whortle berry. 

BIME-BY.  By-and-by, soon, in a short time. 

BINDWEED.  The popular name in Massachusetts for the
convolvulus.- -Bigelow's Flora. 

BINDERY.  A place where books are bound.--Webster. 

The Penny Cyclopedia thinks this a new, but not a bad word. 

BISHOP.  An appendage to a lady's wardrobe, otherwise called
abustle. 

BIT, past part. of the verb bite.  Cheated, taken in.  In Yorkshire,
England, a cheat is called a bite.  Dr. Johnson notices this
vulgarism.Asleep and naked as an Indian lay,

An honest factor stole a gem away;

He pledg'd it to the Knight; the Knight had wit,

So kept the diamond, and the rogue was bit.- -Pope.

A BIT.  A little; a little while.  As "wait a bit;" "after a bit." 

BIT. (Span. pieza.)  The name in the Southern States of silver coin
of the value of one-eighth of a dollar.  The Spanish real (de plata). 

BITTER COLD.  Very cold.  This common colloquial expression
is used alike in England and America.

Those who say it is a very easy tiring to get up of a cold morning,
..... ought to stand around one's bed of a bitter cold morning, and
lie before their faces.--Leigh Hunt.  The Indicator, p. 134.

BITTERS.  A liquid or spirituous liquor, containing an infusion of
bitter herbs and roots.--Worcester. 

Bitters, before the temperance reform, were much in fashion, taken
before breakfast to give an appetite.  The custom is now confined
to the back parts of the country, or to professed tipplers.

What was that I saw you taking for your bitters, a little while
ago?--Cooper, Satanstoe, p.68.

BITTERSWEET.  (Solanum dulcamara.)  The popular name of a
medicinal plant, which has a place in most dispensatories.  It is
also called the Woody Nightshade.--Big. Flora. 

BLACK.  To look black at one, to look at one with anger or deep
resentment depicted on the countenance. 

BLACK AND BLUE.  The color of a bruise; a familiar expression
for a bruise, here and in England.

Mistress Ford, good heart, is beaten black and blue, that you
cannot see a white spot about her.--Shakspeare, Merry Wives of
Windsor. 

And, wingd with speed and fury, flew

To rescue Knight from black and blue.- -Hudibras.

BLACK AND WHITE.  To put a thing into black and white, is, to
commit it to writing.  In use in Scotland.--Jamieson.

I was last Tuesday to wait on Sir Robert Walpole, who desired that
I would put it in black and white, that he might show it to his
Majesty.--Culloden Papers, p. 108.

BLACK-BOOK.  A book was kept in the English monasteries,
during the reign of Henry VIII., in which details of the scandalous
enormities practised in religious houses were entered for the
inspection of visitors, in order to blacken them and hasten their
dissolution.  Hence the vulgar phrase, "I'll set you down in my
black-book. 

BLACK-LEG.  The common term here and in England for a
gambler. 

BLACK-MAIL.  Formerly, money paid to men allied with robbers
to be protected by them from being robbed.--Cowell.  In the United
States it means money extorted from persons under the threat of
exposure in print, for an alleged offence, or defect. 

BLACKSTRAP.  Gin and molasses.  The English sailors call the
common wines of the Mediterranean blackstrap.--Falconer's
Marine Dictionary.

Come, Molly, dear, no black-strap to-night, switchel or ginger
pop.--Margaret, p. 300.

BLACK WOOD.  Hemlock, pine, spruce, and fir.--Maine.

BLADDER-TREE (genus straphylea).  A handsome shrub, from
six to ten feet high, remarkable for its large inflated
capsules.--Bigelow's Flora Bostoniensis. 

BLADDER-WORT.  (Utricularia vulgaris).  The popular name of
an aquatic plant, appearing above water only with its stalk and
flowers.--Ibid. 

BLAME.  A euphemistic evasion of the horrible word damn.  Ex.
"Blame me," or, "I'll be blamed, if;" also, "You be blamed!" 

It is used both in England and in the United States, chiefly in New
England.

I wasn't goin' to let Dean know; because he'd have thought himself
so bland and cunning.--Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings, p. 70.

BLARNEY.  Marvellous stories, flattery.  Ex. He deals in the
wonderful, he is full of blarney.  Grose derives this word from
theBlarney stone, a triangular stone on the very top of an ancient
castle of that name in the county of Cork, in Ireland, extremely
difficult of access; so that to have ascended it, was a proof of
perseverance, courage, and agility, whereof many are supposed to
claim the honor who never achieved the adventure.  Hence, in
England, they say, "He has licked the Blarney stone," i. e. he deals
in the wonderful.--Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. 

Dr. Jamieson doubts the Irish origin of this word, and adopts the
French etymon baliverne, a lie, a fib, gull; also, a babbling, idle
discourse.--Cotgrave, Dictionary. 

BLATHER.  Impudence.  "None of your blather."--Western. 

BLATHERSKITE.  A blustering, noisy, talkative fellow.--Western. 

BLAUSER.  The name given by the Dutch settlers to the
hog-nosed snake, from its habit of distending or blowing up the
skin of its neck and head. The other popular names in New York
are Deaf-adder and Buckwheat-nosed.--Nat. Hist. of New York. 

BLAZE.  In traversing the dense forests of the West, a person
would soon lose his way and find it difficult to retrace his steps
without some land-mark.  This is effected by cutting a piece out of
the side of trees at a sufficient distance from each other to enable
the traveller readily to discover them and thus follow the direct
path or road.  Such a mark is called a blaze, and trees thus marked
are said to be blazed.

Three blazes in a perpendicular line on th same tree indicating a
legislative road, the single blaze, a settlement or neighbourhood
road.--Carlton, The New Purchase. 

After traversing a broad marsh, however, where my horse seemed
loth to venture, I struck a burr-oak opening, and soon found my
way by theblazed trees back to the mail trail.--Hoffman, Winter in
the West.

TO BLAZE AWAY.  To keep up a discharge of fire-arms.  A good
English phrase.

The hunter (of the west) attacks the oldest and largest bull he can
find, and continues to blaze away at him with pistols, until he
brings him down.--Kendall's Santa F‚, Vol. I. p. 79.

BLAZES.  Like blazes, that is, furiously.--Moor's Suffolk
Words.As they cut away, the company

Stil kep upon the glare;

An' when comin' in, the hosses ded

Along like blazes tear.--Poem in Essex Dialect, p. 21.

This expression is common in low language with us.  At the South
it seems to be used as a euphemism for devil, etc.

I've been serving my country like a patriot, goin' to town-meetings,
hurraing my daylights out, and getting as blue asblazes.--J. C.
Neal. 

All the hair was off his head, and his face was as black as the very
old blazes.--Chron. of Pineville, p. 49.

BLAZING STAR.  (Aletris farinosa.)  A pl