Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/339

 12 S. IV. DEC., 1918.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

333

(2) that the Holy Ghost was represented by one of its symbols other than the Dove, and thus became overlooked : but MacHarg ays at p. 22 (and see foot-note) :

"'It seems to me more likely that at times some artists deemed clouds, rays of light, or nothing at all, more fitting than a Dove or human form to symbolize an invisible spirit."

ROCKINGHAM.

Boston, Mass.

WAR SLANG (12 S. iv. 271, 306).- Several of the words in MR. A. SPARKE'S interesting list are due to Tommy's residence in India, e.cj. :

Blighty. Vilayati, bilati, properly adj., pro- vincial, European, home, English, and n., England.

Wallah. Wala, properly agent, one who does or possesses, a person, commonly used in com- position like the English suffix " er," e.g., doer.

Pukkaicallah, Looseu'allah. Pakka means ripe, finished, in contradistinction to kachha, unripe, unfinished, so " pukkawallah " for a dandy would imply completeness in get-up. " Loosewallah," half English, half Hindustani, would imply that thfe thief was a " bad 'un."

Rooti. Roti, bread.

Biickshee. BaTchshi. There is a mistake here. .Bakhsh is a gift ; bakhshi is the giver, paymaster ; bakhshish is a gift, a tip. All these ideas seem to have .had a 'hand in making " buckshee " to mean something extra.

Char. Cha, tea.

Cushy. Khushi, properly adj., pleasant. The noun " pleasure " is khtish, whence " cushy," .something pleasant, a soft job.

JBundook. Band^<q, a gun.

R. C. TEMPLE.

I was much interested in the list of soldiers' words collected by MR. SPARKE, and I should like to make one or two corrections and additions.

First, then, as to the meaning of the letters P.B.I. I am afraid that their meaning is not by any means so polite as would appear from the list. Put into plain English, they stand for " Poor Bloody Infantry " a phrase applied by the weary "" foot-slogger " to himself, seeing that he gets a greater share of the kicks than, and the fewest halfpence of, any arm of the service.

As to " buckshee," it is also used in the sense of "smart," "superfine" for in- stance, as regards clothes.

" Napoo " has so many uses that it would be "almost impossible to make a list of them. 'Tommy uses it on every possible occasion, and you will find it taking the place of sentences, as, for instance, " I have not got any more " in reply to a request for sou-

venirs ; or, again, Cousin Fritz is " napoo'd " when he gets six inches of good British steel in his ribs.

In addition to the word " scrounge " there is the synonymous term " win." Most batmen are excellent hamds at " win- ning " any small things that they may require. It is exceptional, although I know of its having happened on more than one occasion, to find a soldier servant " winning " a cow ; but then cows are not so easily found as canvas buckets, baths, and other domestic utensils. W. H., Lieut.

MR. SPARKE'S list of war-slang words is most interesting, and it might be extended almost indefinitely. Many of the words he gives e.g., rooti (bread), bandook (rifle), &c. are merely Hindustani words, more or less correctly transliterated. "Clink" is at least as old as Queen Elizabeth.

The wider question arises whether it is advisable to compile a record of all supposed new " English " words, however base-born. The position, apparently, corresponds to the state of things which obtained under the Roman Empire, when equips was the classical Latin for horse, and caballus the inferior Latin. There is also the analogy of the Urdu or army language under the Mogul empire. W. A. HIRST.

Some of MR. SPARKE'S " new " words are very, very old friends. Take' "clink." Lock-up or gaol was always " clink " in the vernacular in South Devon when I was a boy nearly 70 years ago. " I'll 'ave 'ee put in clink " is a threat I often had shouted at me when a small boy bent on mischief.

" Dud," again, is a variant of " duds," old ragged worthless clothes, and of " dudder," a pedlar of flashy goods.

" Grouser " and " to grouse," and " in dock " (for laid up with illness), I can recall in use when I Was quite young; while " fed - up," " wash-out," and " gasper " were heard long before this war.

" Chinks " is certainly an old name for Chinese.

" Scrounge " I have not heard, but it is apparently a first cousin to a very old provincial word " scrouge," to squeeze, from which name, by the way, came pro- bably Dickens' s immortal miser.

Many so-called " new " words are the individual slang of some particular schools, and, being often most expressive, have been eagerly snapped up and adopted by the Tommies who have heard them used.

W. COURTHOPE FORMAN.