海角大神

War is a crucible for the creation of slang. People from different regions are thrown together under intense circumstances, and 鈥渢his mixing of people from diverse backgrounds spurs linguistic innovation,鈥� according to rhetoric expert William FitzGerald. Lately, I鈥檝e been thinking about the slang that developed during the most polarized period in American history: the Civil War. 聽 聽

Some of the words and idioms are still common in English, while others have gone AWOL (鈥渁bsent without leave鈥� or, more broadly, 鈥渕issing鈥� 鈥� first used circa 1863). Shebang is perhaps the most familiar today. During the war, it referred to 鈥渁 crude shelter, a shanty,鈥� but by 1869 it was commonly paired with whole and used to mean 鈥渢hing, business,鈥� as in 鈥淚鈥檓 tired of the whole shebang.鈥�

Dictionaries won鈥檛 even hazard a guess about where shebang came from 鈥� Merriam-Webster notes simply 鈥渙rigin unknown.鈥� But speculation is rampant about skedaddle. This word means 鈥渢o run away, flee, make a hasty retreat,鈥� and letters from both sides of the war are full of it: Union soldiers reported that 鈥渢he rebs skedaddled,鈥� while Confederates wrote home about how 鈥渢he yanks skedaddle.鈥� By 1867, the word was popular even in England 鈥� a character in one of Anthony Trollope鈥檚 novels describes how her friend鈥檚 suitor has left in a hurry: 鈥淢amma, Major Grantly has 鈥� skedaddled.鈥� (Her mother replies, 鈥淥h, Lily, what a word!鈥�)

Like Lily鈥檚 mother, many officers disdained the slang of the troops. A military journalist summed up this attitude when he called their slang 鈥渁 gross perversion鈥� of language. He made an exception for skedaddle, though, because it came from 鈥済ood Hellenic stock.鈥� Another amateur etymologist thought the word could be attributed to a 鈥淗arvard student in the army of the Potomac鈥� who knew that the Greek skedannumi means 鈥渢o scatter.鈥�

Shoddy now means 鈥渃heaply imitative鈥� or 鈥渉astily or poorly done,鈥� according to Merriam-Webster. During the war it referred to the cloth from which Union uniforms were sewn. This shoddy was made of old wool fibers, sometimes with a little glue added to strengthen the weave; it was described as 鈥減oor sleazy stuff鈥� that often dissolved in the rain.

The Civil War also produced several new words for money. Greenbacks were paper notes not backed by gold or silver, and which were printed in green ink. This term is still used today. Spondulix, also spelled spondulicks, however, is less common. This would seem to be another 鈥淗arvard student鈥� word, derived from the Spondylus genus of mussels, whose shells resemble coins. It was used by people across the country: A soldier wrote that he鈥檇 welcome 鈥渁 little spondulix鈥� from his folks.