Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/448

 416 AMERICANISMS AMERICAN" WINES Molasses is used in the United States to signify treacle as well as molasses. Properly, the former is the drainage from sugar in the process of refining, the latter from sugar in the process of making. Molasses comes from the sugar planta- tions, treacle from sugar refineries. Narrate has been objected to as a bad Americanism, but It is used by English authors, is found in English dictionaries, and is of English origin. Necessitate is an Americanism much objected to by English writers. Nightfall and aftemight are expressions common in the United States, but not used in England. Notify, in the United States, means to give notice to; in England it means to make known. The American says, "You must notify the drawer of the protest." The English- man says, " The protest must be notified to the drawer." Obligate, sometimes used by American writers, is objected to by English lexicographers as a low word. Oonomous is used much more frequently in the United States than in England, where offensive is preferred. On is often used by Americans in such phrases as, " He lives on a street," " He took passage on a steamboat," Ac. The Englishman would use "in." Pantaloons (or more commonly pants), the common Amer- ican name for trousers. Pipe-laying, fraudulent voting, and schemes or means to obtain fraudulent votes. The word had its origin in New York, at the time of the construction of the Croton water works. Some leaders of the whig party were charged with having made arrangements to bring a large number of men from Philadelphia, ostensibly to lay pipes for the water, but really to vote at an approaching election. Pond, a pool or body of water smaller than a lake, with either natural or artificial banks. In England, "pond" im- plies that the water is confined by an artificial bank. Posted, well informed, thoroughly conversant with. Quite, in the sense of "very," is in universal use by Ameri- cans, in such phrases as, It Is quite cold." Railroad, railroad track, railroad depot, and railroad car, are the American names for the English railway, railway line, railway station, and railway carriage. The American travels " in the cars," the Englishman " by the rail." In the United States the iron horse is ordinarily a' " locomotive ; " in Britain it is an " engine." Rapids, that portion of a river where the current is so swift that the surface of the water is broken by short waves or by low falls. Reckon, used in the southern and western states instead of suppose, think ; as, "I reckon he does ; " " That'll do, I reckon." Reliable, for trustworthy, has been adopted In the common use of England, but is not employed by careful writers. Ride, in the United States, means riding either in a wagon or on horseback. The English restrict "ride" to horseback. In America, " to drive " means to hold the reins ; in England it does not. Ride was formerly used by the English as it is now used by the Americans. River is always placed by the English before the proper name when speaking of a particular stream, as "the river Thames." The Americans generally place "river" after the proi>er name, as "the Ohio river." Roil, to render turbid, a provincial word in England, is in general use throughout the United States, where it also means to make angry. Rooster is an Americanism for "cock," a male barn-door fowl. Sick is the ordinary American word for ill, but is used by the English chiefly to express sickness at the stomach. Skedaddle, to run away a word introduced during the civil war, and at that time in general use. Sleigh, for the English "sledge." The English go " sledge- driving ; " the Americans go " sleigh-riding." Span is an Americanism for pair, applied only to horses or mules. It is derived from the German Gespann. Stage, for stage coach ; rarely so used by the English. Stall is used in the United States to signify stick fast ; as, " The horses are stalled," " The wagon is stalled," Ac. Stoop is an Americanism, derived from the Dutch, meaning the steps at the entrance of a house, doorsteps, a porch, a piazza, a platform of stone or wood before a door. Store is the usual American name for a shop ; and shop is rarely used except to designate a place where mechanical labor is done. Such terms as " book store," " shoe store," " grocery store," " liquor store," " drug stoiv," are always used by the Americans to the exclusion of " book shop," Ac. Suspenders is the proper, as gallowses is the vulgar, Ameri- can name for the articles known in England as braces. Suspicion is sometimes used in western American news- papers as a verb instead of suspect. Switch, in speaking of railroads, as, " to switch off." The English say " shunt." Tavern, a place where travellers are entertained and lodged. In England it means a place where liquors are sold and enter- tainment (but not lodging) is provided for parties. Ticket is used by the Americans in many ways unknown to the English. Politically it means a list of candidates at an election. When an American engages a passage on a railroad, he purchases a ticket; the Englishman is booked at the office. The American purchases a "through ticket" or a "way ticket ; " the Englishman is booked for a portion or the whole distance of his intended journey. Timber, in the sense of forest or grove; as "the house stands at the edge of the timber." Transient, in such phrases as a "transient person," mean- ing a person staying at a place for a short time, a stranger, a traveller, is not used in that sense in England. Venison, deer meat ; in England, wild meat generally. Waggon or wagon, according to the usual American spell- ing, is frequently used in the United States as a verb ; thus, " The goods were wagoned across the mountains." Witt is generally used by the natives of the southern, west- ern, and middle states, in the first person, instead of shall, when they merely wish to express an expectation. Woods is the common American name for what the Eng- lish term "a wood." Vocabularies of Americanisms have been pub- lished by John Pickering (Boston, 1816), John Russell Bartlett (New York, 1848, new ed., re- vised, 1859), and Prof. Schele de Vere (New York, 1872). Such multitudes of slang words are made every year in America and cir- culated by careless or flippant writers, that if they were all collected they might before long equal in number the 60,000 provincialisms of England. Fortunately they are generally used with a knowledge of their vulgarity, and many of them are forgotten almost as easily as they are coined. AMERICAN RIVER, in N. central California, is formed by the union of its N. and S. forks near the W. boundary of El Dorado county, 30 miles above Sacramento city, flows S. W. between the counties of Placer and Sacra- mento, and falls into Sacramento river near that city. The N. fork, considered by some as the true American river, rises among the hills at the base of the Sierra Nevada, and flows W. S. W., forming the boundaries between Placer and El Dorado counties for 100 miles. The S. fork flows from Bonpland lake through El Do- rado county, and forms part of the division be- tween the counties of Sacramento and El Do- rado. These streams pass through one of the principal gold-mining districts. AMERICAN WINES. From the first settlement of America, the vine attracted the attention of the colonists, and as early as 1565 wine was made from native grapes in Florida. The first vineyard in the British colonies was planted by the London company in Virginia in 1620, and in 1630 French vine-dressers were imported by them ; but the enterprise failed. Wine was made in Virginia in 1647, and in 1651 premi- ums were offered for its production. Beverly mentions that prior to 1722 there were vine- yards in that colony, producing 750 gallons per year. In 1664 governor Richard Nicolls of New York granted to Paul Richards the privi- lege of making and selling wine free of duty, as the first who entered upon its cultivation on a large scale. Beauchamp Plantagenet, in a description of New Albion in 1648, states that the English settlers in Uvedale, now Delaware, had vines running on mulberry and sassafras trees. He names four kinds of grapes: Tou-