AMERICA TO-DAY
numerous and surprising extensions of meaning. It appears to be one of the laws of slang that when a phrase strikes the popular fancy, it is pressed into service on every possible or impossible occasion. Another favourite expression is "That cuts no ice with me."[1] I was unable to ascertain either its origin or its precise signification. On the other hand, a piece of slang which supplies a "felt want," and will one day, I believe, pass into the literary language, is "the limit" in the sense of "le comble." A theatrical poster, widely displayed in New York while I was there, bore this alluring inscription:
"THE LIMIT AT LAST!
'THE MORMON SENATOR AND THE MERMAID.'
JAGS OF JOY FOR JADED JOHNNIES."
A "jag," be it known, means primarily a load, secondarily a "load " or "package " of alcohol.
Collectors of slang will find many priceless gems in two recent books which I commend to their notice: Chimmie Fadden, by Mr. E. W. Townsend, and Artie, by Mr. George Ade. Chimmie Fadden gives us the dialect of the New York Bowery Boy, or "tough," in which the most notable feature is the substitution either of "d" or "t" for "th." Is this,
- ↑ "We didn't break into sassiety notes, but that cuts no ice in our set."—Artie.
necks' in Arizona, about four years ago, applied to the throngs of onlookers in the gambling-houses, who strove to get a better view of the games in progress by stretching or bending their necks."
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