The Little Londoner [antikvár]

PREFACE.This Mttle book is a parallel volume to my Petit Pa-risien. I have called it The Little Londoner for tworeasons; firstly, because it treats of almost every aspectof London daily life, London being generally recognisedas the leading English city to which the foreignerusually goes first, and where he makes his longest stay;secondly, because the book is written in such English asthe educated Londoner of the present day uses in hisordinary unconstrained conversation; London speech isspreading among the educated classes throughout thecountry, and many authorities do not hesitate to regard itas the standard.In composing The Little Londoner, I have mainlydrawn upon my personal experience gained during acontinuous stay in England extending over two years anda half, and on numerous later occasions when my holidayswere spent there. I have, of course, also made occasionaluse of the recognised standard works on England and theEnglish, and of valuable information furnished by Englishfriends. I am particularly indebted to two English gentle-men, of whom one, Mr. C. Darling, M. A. (Lond.), is anative of the North, while the other, Mr. Walter Ripp-mann, M. A. (Cantab. & Lond.), is a born Londoner.Each has revised my MS. independently, both as regardsform arid matter. It may therefore be taken that thelanguage is thoroughly idiomatic.Chapter XXVI, which deals with the language, containsan alphabetical list of the most common colloquial andslang expressions with explanations in good English, andis largely based on my own observation. I have added abrief enumeration of the chief peculiarities of cockneyspeech. The chapter is intended to enable the foreigner todistinguish what is good from what ought not to beimitated in the conversation of the native. Those whohave little experience are too much inclined to make anindiscriminate use of slang, without considering whetherit may not be regarded as a sign of offensive familiarityby the person addressed.The words and phrases given in brackets serve toexplain the text or to extend the vocabulary by the sug-