Fashionable Slang.

FASHIONABLE SLANG .

BY " VEBAX , " IT has been said that the use of " slang " or " cant" words in the national literature points to the actual decadence or the moral degradation of that country in which it is prevalent . Without going so far as that ( though there is no doubt some truth in

the assertion ) , I am prepared to contend that as possibly adages have had their slang in some form or other , conventional words peculiar to the age that is , though the evil be no doubt great , and to he regretted on many grounds , it is useless to exaggerate either its evil or its effect on society . In all countries , all societies , all professions , there are certain technical words , which become in one sense " slang" ; and just as there is the patois of countries and the

pronunciations like " Piatt Deutsch , " and " Yorkshire lingo , " so we have schoolboy slang , university slang , naval slang , military slang , racing slang , gipsy slang , thieves' slang , and the slang of great cities , ancl even religious slang . Berlin has , for instance , a slang of its own , Paris has its " argot , " and London has slang familiar to its irrepressible boys and peculiar people . Thereforeslang existsand it is useless to " heap the " about slangas it is

, , up agony , most unwise for our " feeble forcibles "—the retailers of " pure platitudes " ancl dull anathemata to denounce slang . Society is not to be mended , in my opinion , by the vapid utterances of " Boanerges Bugg , " nor by the noisy rant of the great Stiggins , or even by that outcome of " proverbiality , that plethora of invective , which flow either from the polished unction of Father Pomposo , or the impassioned personalities of " Jim

Fly" ! Let us look at the matter calmly , seriously , severely , if you like , and sensibly of course , and above all in a genial temper , with a kindly spirit . The days of cursing , and excommunication , and auto-da-fes , and denunciation are , thank God , over ; and so let us see what a little calm consideration may do , honestly intended , carefully carried out , and peacefully interchanged , face to face , heart to heart ; for

we all have some , at least I believe so , feelings which may be touched and minds ancl wills which may be affected for the " good , tho beautiful , ancl the true . " I am now simply speaking as a professor of moral aesthetics , ad hominem et fceminam , and have dropped , pro tern ., the preacher ' s robe , and the " Sermon ens cathedra . " I agree with , first of all , Charles Mackay in his " Social Notes , " where he tells us that " exaggeration in their expletives , " marks too many of all classes amongst us at the present ¦

day . As he truly observes , " ' A ery good' ancl ' very bad' are phrases that are seldom beard , having been superseded by such words as ' awful' and ' dreadful . ' A very pretty girl is an ' awfully pretty girl , ' or a' dreadfully fine woman . ' Our golden youth , male and female , as well as the lower grade of people who ape their manners and language , are at some times ' awfully jolly , ' at other times ' dreadfidly bored . ' 'I was at an awfullnice dinnerparty last niht You should the

y - g , ' says one . ' see new farce , ' says another , ' it is screamingly funny . ' ' I am going down to Brighton next week , ' says a third , ' it is so jolly to be by the briny . ' AVhile a young lady accepting a bouquet from an admirer graciously acknowledges the gift with these words , ' Oh , thank you so much ! Ta ! awfully ta ! '"

He also points out : "It is another characteristic of the present time that young people—at least in company , or in the ordinary current of conversation—never talk of friendshi p' or ' love . ' Those honest old words are antiquated , and it is almost as contrary to good manners to mention them as it would be to speak , of the commonest unctions of nature . Fashion often disguises what it has to say in this respect under synonyms derived from the gutter . ' I am awfully bored in general society , ' said a