Slang

"Noon-Regent Street" by William Powell Frith, 1862

The use of slang phrases among people of education and social standing seems to be on the increase. We hear them in the drawing-room, from the lips of cultivated men and women, almost as frequently as on the street; but never without an involuntary loss of respect for the persons who use them. A sensible and discriminating writer, referring to this subject, says:--“Ladies frequently use slang phrases, with a slight pause or smile to serve as marks of quotation, or rather as an apology. But to modify a fault is not to remove it. Resolve that you will never use an incorrect, an inelegant, or a vulgar phrase or word, in any society whatever. If you are gifted with wit, you will soon find that it is easy to give it far better point and force in pure English, than through any other medium, and that brilliant thoughts make the deepest impression when well worded. However great it may be, the labor is never lost which earns for you the reputation of one who habitually uses the language of a gentleman, or of a lady.”--Arthur's Home Magazine, 1865

[Those not following this advice may enjoy the following titles:  The Slang Dictionary (London, 1865), A Dictionary of Modern Slang (London, 1859), Dictionary of Americanisms (Boston, 1859).]