as we should say, tinned) provisions.

The most popular slang expression of the day is "to rubberneck," or,
more concisely, "to rubber." Its primary meaning is to crane the neck in
curiosity, to pry round the corner, as it were.[W] But it has numerous
and surprising extensions of meaning. It appears to be one of the laws
of slang that when a phrase strikes the popular fancy, it is pressed
into service on every possible or impossible occasion. Another
favourite expression is "That cuts no ice with me."[X] I was unable to
ascertain either its origin or its precise significance. On the other
hand, a piece of slang which supplies a "felt want," and will one day, I
believe, pass into the literary language, is "the limit" in the sense of
"le comble." A theatrical poster, widely displayed in New York while I
was there, bore this alluring inscription:

THE LIMIT AT LAST!

"THE MORMON SENATOR AND THE MERMAID"

JAGS OF JOY FOR JADED JOHNNIES.

A "jag," be it known, means primarily a load, secondarily a "load," or
"package," of alcohol.

Collectors of slang will find many priceless gems in two recent books
which I commend to their notice: _Chimmie Fadden_, by Mr. E.W. Townsend,
and _Artie_, by Mr. George Ade. _Chimmie Fadden_ gives us the dialect of
the New York Bowery Boy, or "tough," in which the most notable feature
is the substitution either of "d" or "t" for "th." Is this, I wonder, a
spontaneous corruption, or is it due to German and Yiddish influence?