slum

[Jonathan Lighter]

Since the text must have been set from handwriting, typewriters being essentially nonexistent in 1863, a misreading of "clams" is certainly conceivable. The catch is that "clam" (dollar) seems, at the moment, to be a somewhat later coinage. Nor do I notice any obvious typos in the book (available at Live Search Books).

  A misreading would also imply that though the putative "clams" was familiar enough to be put in a vaudeville song, the typesetter (and possibly a proofreader) preferred the otherwise nonsensical "slums."

  JL

Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Stephen Goranson
Subject: Re: slum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>> Here it transparently means "a dollar." But why? I don't believe
>> I've seen this sense before.
>>
>> 1863 _Hooley's Opera House Songster_ (N.Y.: Dick & FitzGerald)
>> 32: "So I‭'‭ll go and jump a bounty, / And have a
>> little spree." / Joe went and put his name down,/ And got three
>> hundred " slums," / And then skedaddled and ran away.

Is a typo or scanning error for "clams" possible?

Stephen Goranson

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



---------------------------------
Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.
 Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org