Excerpt: ...the "spontaneous generation" of slang, which, starting in the linguistic whimsicality of one individual, gets caught up in conversation, and finds its ultimate way into the language. Important instruments, certainly in the United States, in spreading such neologisms are the humorous and sporting pages of the newspapers, in which places they not infrequently originate.1 Whether a current slang expression will persist, or perish (as do thousands initiated every year), Page 235 depends on accidents of contemporary ...
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Excerpt: ...the "spontaneous generation" of slang, which, starting in the linguistic whimsicality of one individual, gets caught up in conversation, and finds its ultimate way into the language. Important instruments, certainly in the United States, in spreading such neologisms are the humorous and sporting pages of the newspapers, in which places they not infrequently originate.1 Whether a current slang expression will persist, or perish (as do thousands initiated every year), Page 235 depends on accidents of contemporary circumstances. If the expression happens to set off aptly a contemporary situation, it may become very widespread until that situation, such as a political campaign, is over. But it may, like the metaphor of a poet, have some universal application. "Log-rolling," "graft," "bluff," have come into the language to stay. Roosevelt's "pussy-foot," and "Ananias Club" are, perhaps, remembered, but show less promise of permanency. "Movies" has already ceased to be a neologism, its ready adoption illustrating a point already mentioned, namely, that a variation that facilitates speech (as "movies" does in comparison with "moving pictures," or "motion pictures ") has a high potentiality of acceptance. Footnote 1: H. L. Mencken in his suggestive book, The American Language, sees in this upshoot of phrases indigenous to the soil and the temper of the American people, and of grammatical constructions also, symptoms of the increasing divergence of the American from the English language. That there are a large number of special expressions exclusively used in the United States, and parts of the United States, that are not found in use in England, goes without saying. Everyone knows that the Englishman says "lift" where we say "elevator," "shop," where we are likely to say "store." There are significant differences to be found even in the casual expressions of American and English newspapers. But it is doubtful whether the divergence can go very far, in view...
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Add this copy of Human Traits and Their Social Significance to cart. $6.93, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published by Houghton Mifflin.
Add this copy of Human Traits and Their Social Significance to cart. $8.00, good condition, Sold by Prairie Archives rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Springfield, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1920 by Houghton Mifflin.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Hardcover with red cloth boards, 1920, octavo, 467pp., not illustrated. Book VG with mild rubbing and shelfwear to boards and spine, binding tight, previous owner's stamps to flyleaves, foxing to endpapers and edges of text block, otherwise text clean and unmarked. No DJ.
Add this copy of Human Traits and Their Social Significance to cart. $18.00, very good condition, Sold by Between the Covers-Rare Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Gloucester City, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1920 by Houghton Mifflin.
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Very Good. Very good. Hardcover, rubbed at spine ends and corners, small white spot on front board, writing on front endpaper, some minor pencil lines and notes on first few pages.
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Add this copy of Human Traits and Their Social Significance to cart. $34.31, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2022 by Legare Street Press.
Add this copy of Human Traits and Their Social Significance to cart. $37.75, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2014 by Literary Licensing, LLC.
