9. Certain adjectives, expressing not only the quality, but one's subjective feelings in regard to it; as, clever, grand, green, likely, smart, ugly.

10. Certain abridged expressions; as, stage for stage-coach; turnpike for turnpike-road; spry for sprightly; to conduct for to conduct one's self. There is a tendency in most languages to such contractions.

11. Quaint or burlesque terms, whether verbs; as, to tote, to yank; or nouns; as, humbug, loafer, muss; plunder for baggage; rock for a stone.

12. Certain very low expressions, mostly political; as, slang whanger, loco foco, hunker; to get the hang of a thing for to learn how to do it.

13. Ungrammatical expressions, disapproved by all; as, do don't; used to could for could formerly; can't come it for can't do it; Universal preacher for Universalist preacher; there's no two ways about it for it is just so.

LOCAL PECULIARITIES.

§ 95. To the question whether there is an American-English dialect, an answer must be given in the affirmative or the negative, according as you extend or contract the meaning of the term dialect. When reading the pages of Judge HALIBURTON'S Sam Slick, or one of Major JACK DOWNING'S Letters, we are ready to admit, if they furnish a fair exhibition of language in actual use, that the difference between it and the best English is so great as to constitute it a dialect. But they are caricatures. Still, are there not actual differences, extending generally through the country, as great, or nearly as great, as obtained between the Ionic and the Attic dialects in Greece? It should, however, be remembered, that the dialectical differences which obtained in Greece are exhibited by the best authors, whereas there are no dialectical differences between our best writers and those of England. EVERETT, and PRESCOTT, and IRVING, write in a style as purely English as the best English writers. The number of good writers in the United States, as measured by English standards, is probably greater than in England, though it must be conceded that the number of first-rate writers is fewer. The people of the United States, descended

from English ancestors, have, in consequence of common school education and the use of the same standards, fewer dialectical peculiarities than the people of England.

Whatever may be the correct answer to the question at the head of the last paragraph, it must be granted that there are certain local peculiarities which distinguish, 1. The people of New England. 2. The people of the Southern States. 3. Some of the Western States.

The people of New England, especially those who live in the interior, have inherited marked peculiarities of pronunciation and phraseology, which distinguish them from the people of other parts of the country, though these peculiarities, constantly diminishing, are not as great as similar ones existing in some counties of the mother country. A distinguished English scholar informed the writer that the peculiarities attributed to the people of New England were constantly met with in Suffolk, where he was bred and born. The drawling pronunciation of the Yankees has an equivalent in the "Suffolk whine."

The people of the Southern States have a more full, and open, and mellifluous pronunciation than the people of New England, though they do not articulate the consonantal sounds so distinctly.

The people of the West have great variety in their peculiar style of expression and in their pronunciation, which is extensively similar to the districts from which they or their ancestors emigrated.

SPECIMENS OF AMERICANISMS.

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§ 96. ABOVE MY BEND=out of my power. ABSQUATULATE= to run away. ALL-FIRED=very. To ALLOT UPON to intend. AMAZING = Wonderfully. AMOST=almost. ANY HOW YOU CAN FIX IT=any rate whatever. ANY MANNER OF MEANS any means. TO APPRECIATE to raise the value of, or rise in value. ANY= either. AVAILS profits or proceeds. AWFUL disagreeable, ugly. BACK AND FORTH= backward and forward (New Eng.). BACKWOODSMAN = =an inhabitant of the forest on the western frontiers of the United States. TO BACK OUT to retreat from a difficulty. BAD BOX= bad predicament. BALANCE=the remainder (South). BANG=excel; as, "This bangs all things."

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To BE A CAUTION=to CHAY chaise (N. E.).

BANKABLE=receivable at a bank. BANK-BILL-bank-note. BARK UP THE WRONG TREE= mistake one's object or cause. BARRENS= plains upon which grow small trees, but never timber. BEE= a collection of people who unite their labors for an individual or a family, as a quilting-bee. BEE-LINE a straight line from one point to another. BETTER, for more; as, "It is better than a year since we met." BETTERMENTS improvements on new land. B'HOYS noisy young men in the city of New York. BIG BUGS people of consequence. BIME-BY= in a short time. BLAZE=mark on trees for guiding travelers. BLOW-UP a quarrel. To BLOW UP to scold. BOBOLINK=skunk black-bird= rice bunting. BOGUS MONEY= counterfeit money. Boss-master. Bossy, a name applied to a calf. BOTTOM LAND, a term applied to low land on the bank of a river. BREACHY, a term applied to runaway oxen. BREADSTUFF bread, corn-meal, or flour. BROTHER CHIP=person of the same trade. BUNCOMBE is a term applied to speeches made for electioneering purposes. CALCULATE=expect or believe (N. E.). TO CARRY ON to frolic. CAUCUS private meeting of politicians. be a warning. To CAVE IN to give up. CHICKEN FIXINGS= chicken fricasseed. CHIRP lively (N. Eng.). TO CHOMP to champ. CHORE Small work. CLAM-SHELL= lips or mouth. TO CLEAR OUT to take one's self off. CLEVER good-natured or obliging. CLEVERLY well. CLIP a blow. To CONDUCT=to conduct one's self. CONSIDERABLE=very. CONSOCIATION is the fellowship or union of churches by their pastors and delegates. COOKEY a cake. CORDUROY ROAD is a road made of logs laid together over swamps. CORN maize. CORNDODGER is a cake made of Indian corn. TO COTTON To is to like or fancy. CRACKER is a small hard biscuit. CURIOUS-excellent (N. E.). TO CUT DIRT to run. CUTE=sharp, cunning (N. E.). DARKEY, a term for negro. DEADENING=girdling trees. To DEED to convey by deed. DEMORALIZE = to corrupt the morals. DESK pulpit. DICKER to barter. DIFFICULTED= perplexed. DIGGINGS=neighborhood or section of the country (West.). DONATE to give as a donation. DONE GONE=ruined. DONE BROWN thoroughly. DONE FOR cheated. Do DON'T= do not (Ga.). DON'T do not, sometimes improperly used for does not. Do TELL! is it possible! (N. E.) DRUMMING=SO

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liciting of customers. E'EN A'MOST almost. TO ENERGIZE= to give active vigor to. EVERLASTING=very. TO FALL = to fell, to cut down, as to fall a tree. To FELLOWSHIP WITH to hold communion with. ON THE FENCE means to be neutral, and to be ready to join the strongest party. FIRST-RATE = superior. Fix a condition, a dilemma. FIXINGS arrangements. A FIXED FACT=a well-established fact. TO FIZZLE OUT= to prove a failure. To FLARE UP to get excited suddenly. TO FLAT OUT= to prove a failure. TO GET THE FLOOR to be in possession of the house. To FLUNK OUT to retire through fear. FoGY=a stupid fellow. TO BE FOREHANDED to be comfortably off. To FORK OVER to pay over. TO FOX BOOTS to foot boots. FRESHET=the overflowing of a river. FULL CHISEL at full speed. FULL SWING=full sway. GAL-BOY is a romping girl. TO GIVE HIM THE MITTEN is to discard a lover. Go AHEAD=to go forward. TO GO BY=to call, to stop at (So. & West.). TO GO IT STRONG = to act with vigor. To GO THE WHOLE FIGURE=to go to the greatest extent. GOING the state of the road. GOINGS-ON= behavior. GONE GOOSE = ruined. GREEN inexperienced, English, verdant. GUESS think, believe. GRIT courage. GULLY is a channel worn in the earth by a current of water. HAIN'T, for have not (N. E.). To get the HANG of a thing is to get the to come in accidentally. HARD RUN=

knack.

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to be hard pressed. TO HAVE A SAY=to express an opinion. To HEAD OFF to get before. HEAP a great deal. HELP servants. HET heated. HIDE to beat. HITCH HORSES TOGETHER to agree. HOE-CAKE is a cake of Indian meal. To HOLD ON = to stop. HOLP helped (So.). Hook to steal. HOUSEN= houses (N. E.). HOVE heaved. HULL whole. HUSKING= stripping off husks from Indian corn. IMPROVE to occupy (N. E.). INDIAN FILE=single file. To JUMP AT to embrace with eagerness. TO KEEP COMPANY to court. KEEPING-ROOM is the sitting-room (N. E.). KINK a knot, a notion. KNOCKED INTO A COCKED HAT = knocked out of shape. LAY=share. LEGGINS are Indian gaiters. LENGTHY having length. To LET ON to mention. TO LICK to beat. LIKELY handsome.

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LIMPSEY = flexible. To LIQUOR to take a dram. LOAFER= an idle lounger. To LOBBY is to endeavor to exert an influence on a legislative body. Lor a number. LYNCH LAW is punish

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ment executed by the mob, without legal forms. To MAKE TRACKS to leave. MASS-MEETING is a large meeting called for some special purpose. MEECHIN= a person with a downcast look. MIGHTY great, very. MUSH is Indian meal boiled in water. MIGHTY=great, Muss disorder. NARY ONE neither. NON-COMMITTAL = that does not commit itself to a particular measure. NOTIONS=Small wares or trifles. HADN'T OUGHT is used improperly for ought not. ONTO for on. OUT OF SORTS out of order. OUT OF FIX= disordered. To PEEK to pry into. PURT=perk=lively. PESKILY= extremely. PESKY=very. PICKANINNY=a negro or mulatto infant. A PICK-UP DINNER=a dinner made of fragments. PIMPING=little. ON A PINCH=on an emergency. PIT=a kernel. PLAGUY SIGHT=a great deal (N. E.). TO PLANK to lay. PLEAD or PLED is used improperly for pleaded. PLENTY for plentiful. PLUNDER = personal baggage (So. & West.). POWERFUL=very great. PRETTY CONSIDERABLE=very (So.). TO STAY PUT=to remain in order. To QUALIFY to swear to perform the duties of an office. RACE is a strong current of water. To RAKE AND SCRAPE to collect. REAL = really. TO RECKON to think. RESULT the decision of a council or assembly. RICH=entertaining. RISKY dangerous. Rock=a stone (S. & W.). RowDY riotous fellow. RUN OF STONES two mill-stones. SALTLICK a saline spring. SAWYER a tree in a river rising and falling with the waves. SCREAMER is a bouncing boy or girl. SETTLE to ordain in a parish. SHANTY a hut. SHORTS the bran and coarse part of the meal. SLICE a fire-shovel. SMART CHANCE a good deal. To SLICK UP to dress up. To SNAKE OUT to drag out. SNICKER to laugh slily. SNOOZE = to sleep. SOZZLE is a sluttish woman. SPARKING=Courting. SPLURGE= a blustering effort (S. & W.). SPRY=nimble. To sQUAT=to settle on new land without a title. To STAVE OFF to delay. STICKLING delaying. To FEEL STREAKED to feel confused. TO SUCK IN to deceive. To TAKE ON to grieve. TALL=excellent, fine. TELL a saying. TIGHT=close, parsimonious. TORE dead grass that remains on the ground. To TOTE to convey (So.). TRAPS goods. TRAPS goods. UGLY ill-tempered (N. E.). UPPER-CRUST the aristocracy. USED TO COULD=could formerly (So.). VARMINT vermin. WALK INTO get the WALK INTO get the upper hand

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of. YANK= to twitch powerfully.

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