Possible Antedating of "Slang"

Fri Apr 18 17:40:56 UTC 2014

As a an item of curiosity only, "Slang" appears to have been an actual
surname.

1640 _Newes of this present weeke from Germany, Italy, and Spaine_ III No.
27 (EEBO) [unp.]: Colonel _Slang_ lost his right arme, which was taken off
by a peece of ordnance.

Col. Slang was an officer of the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus, but that
says little about his nationality.

JL

On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 6:59 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Possible Antedating of "Slang"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I think this 1733 "Toby Slang" is intriguing, but it tells us very little.
>  What it may tell us is that the term "slang" was already around in 1733,
> and thus was not a new term in 1756, when we see its first confirmed use
> (and Jon warns that even that may not refer to language).  Unfortunately,
> we can't be certain even of this, since we can't be sure that the name is a
> reference to our "slang."
>
> We would likely know more, perhaps quite a bit more, if we had the text of
> The Livery-Rake Trapp'd.  Presumably we would be able to tell if Toby Slang
> used slang and, if so, what "slang" was understood to be.  Perhaps Toby
> Slang's back-story would tell us something about who slang users were
> supposed to be, and conceivably there might even be a discussion of the
> term.  Unfortunately, The Livery-Rake Trapp'd is unpublished.  I don't know
> what the chances are that a manuscript survives, but I am not optimistic.
>
> I don't think the possibility that this was the origin or popularization
> of the term is worth pursuing.  As far as we know, this ballad opera was
> produced only once, to no great acclaim, and as already noted it was never
> published.  It is remembered today, to the very limited extent it is
> remembered at all, principally because one of the actresses, Hannah
> Pritchard, rates an article in the Dictionary of National Biography.  Nor
> are there any references to Toby Slang, other than the few that are found
> in listings of the work's characters.  It just seems too obscure to support
> a plausible belief that Toby Slang's name became a by-word.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 8:55 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Possible Antedating of "Slang"
>
> Somehow cut off was the opening line:
>
> "Cf. the character Slango in Henry Carey's 'The Honest Yorkshireman'
> (1736)."
>
> I don't know anything about "Toby Slang" except - interestingly enough -
> that English crooks at one time called the highway "the high toby."
>
> JL
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 8:50 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > He doesn't use slang.
> >
> > Moreover, John's beguiling 1733 discovery is less impressive now that
> > it might have been thirty years ago. Before digitized databases, one
> > could ponder the notion that many, many undiscovered examples of
> > "slang," some in the modern sense, were lying around undiscovered in the
> early 18th century.
> > That likelihood is now reduced practically to zero.
> >
> > If "Toby Slang" had somehow popularized the use or notion of slang,
> > very likely we'd have some hint of it in ECCO. Last time I looked
> > (maybe they've expanded it again), we didn't.
> >
> > Nor is it entirely clear that the OED's 1756 ex.refers to language
> > rather than, say, to town low-life in general. Liberman (2008)
> > suggests plausibly, though not conclusively. that slang "must" [sic]
> > at one time have meant "territory over which hawkers, strolling
> > showmen, and other itinerants traveled," and that, applied to
> > language, it originally designated the "banter" of such characters.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 3:05 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> >> Subject:      Possible Antedating of "Slang"
> >>
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> ----------
> >>
> >> The OED has "slang" from 1756.  However, an earlier play, The
> >> Livery-Rake
> >> Trapp'd: or, The Disappointed Country Lass, which premiered at the
> >> New Theatre in the Haymarket on October 15, 1733, included a
> >> character named "Toby Slang," played in the original production
> >> (which was probably the only one ever mounted) by a Mr. Harper.  The
> (London) Daily Journal (Oct.
> >> 15, 1733) (Access Newspaper Archive) indicated that it was a "Ballad
> Opera"
> >> in four acts and says that "The Words of the English Songs are
> >> printed, and will be deliver'd gratis at the Theatre."  William J.
> >> Burling, A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London
> >> Stage, 1700 - 1737, at 157
> >> (1993) (Google Books), indicates that it was unpublished and may be a
> >> parody of The Livery Rake and Country Lass (5 May 1733).
> >>
> >> There does not seem to be any more information concerning this Toby
> >> Slang character on the Web, but if he was so named because he liked
> >> to use slang then this may be an antedating of the term.  I don't
> >> know if any copies of the play survive.  Toby Slang was the first
> >> character mentioned in the Daily Journal.
> >>
> >>
> >> John Baker
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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