Page:Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant (1889) by Barrere & Leland.djvu/38

 derived from the Dutch afscheyden; German abscheiden, to leave or depart.

Absquatulate (American), to disappear, to run away, to abscond. The reverse of to "squat," from ab and squat, originally settlers' slang for abandoning a location when fearing an unwelcome visitation, and settling on a more remote spot.

Bartlett calls this "a factitious vulgarism." It was in use nearly fifty years ago. At that time running away with money by bank presidents, &c., became very common in consequence of financial panics or collapses, and it was the fashion to coin words from the names of the delinquents, as "to Swartwout" or "to Schylerise," &c. When we reflect that there are many Yankee and Western men accustomed to spelling bees, and perhaps more familiar with the difficult words of the dictionary than are many scholars, it does not appear remarkable that we find in American slang a number of words which have a learned length and Latin sound. To any half-educated man with a fancy for extravagant expression, and familiar with "abscond," "to squattle away," and "perambulate," absquatulate would readily suggest itself in an effort to recall one or the other. Once uttered and heard, it would become popular. To deliberately invent a new word, without some foregoing suggestion or basis, and get it adopted, is one of the rarest events in the world, even in America, where men are continually attempting it.

The various slang synonyms are "to skedaddle, to cut one's lucky, to sling one's hook, to mizzle, to bolt, to cut and run, to slip one's cable, to step it, to leg it, to tip the double, to amputate one's mahogany, to make or to take tracks, to hook it, to slope, to slip it, to paddle, to evaporate, to vamoose, to tip your rags a gallop, to walk one's chalks, to pike, to hop the twig, to turn it up, to cut the cable and run before the wind," and in the lingo of the light-fingered and sure-footed gentry, "to make beef, to guy, to speel"—Barrère: Argot and Slang.

Abusive drill, adjutant's drill. The adjutant, being responsible for the drill of a regiment, has constant parades for instruction and practice, at which he may occasionally use strong language. He is especially concerned with the development of recruits, the perfecting of awkward squads, and of careless or inattentive soldiers sent back to drill as a punishment. A salutary change has no doubt come over the army, which was once proverbial for cursing and