Declination, the refusal to accept a nomination to office.

Dry goods, a general term used by Americans to signify such articles as are sold by linen drapers, haberdashers, mercers, drapers, hosiers. etc. The word '• haberdashery " is almost unknown to the United States.

Dress, the word almost universally used by American women to designate their gowns.

Elect, used intransitively in the sense of choose: as. in a division of property. "He elected to take the real estate."

Endorse, a word adopted from commercial usage to signify sanction, approve, confirm.

Eventuate, meaning to result in.

Expect, misused in application to past events; as, "I expect it was."

Fall, meaning autumn.

Fancy, used as an adjective to signify fantastic, various. It is frequently used on signs of shops where assorted goods are sold; thus. " Fancy Store." Whatever is ornamental rather than useful, fantastic, adapted to gratify luxurious tastes rather than necessary wants, more elegant than substantial, figured as opposed to plain, may be described as " fancy." Thus there are " fancy silks." "fancy horses." etc. For analogous reasons the term is also applied to certain classes of men and women.

Fish-dealer, the American name for a fishmonger.

Fix in England means to fasten or make firm; in America it means almost anything in the way of putting in order, adjusting, mending, setting to rights, or making.

Fleshy for stout.

Freshet, meaning a flood, is not recognized in England as a good word; but it was used several centuries ago by good English writers.

Frock is the name sometimes given by American women to their gown. Ogilvie says frock is now used in England " for a loose garment or shirt worn by men over their other clothes, and for a kind of gown, open behind, worn by females."

Fruit-dealer, the name generally given in the United States to fruiterers and green-grocers.

Gerrymander, a method of arranging election districts so that the political party making the arrangements will be enabled to elect a greater number of representatives than they could on a fair system of districting, and more than they should have in proportion to their numerical strength. To word was derived from the name of Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was accused of being the first to practice this species of fraud on the rights of the people while governor of Massachusetts.

Go ahead is of American origin, and is used by Americans in cases where the British would say "All right."

Guess, used as "think;" as, " 1 guess I do." "I guess so."

Hack usually means a hackney-coach in America; in England it means a livery stable horse, or one merely used for travelling and routine work.

Harducare merchant, or hardware dealer, is the American name for an ironmonger.

Help is frequently used in the United States to signify servant, servants, or service.

Hold on is a common Americanism for " stop." It is probably derived from the German halt an.

Homely means plain-featured or ugly in the United States; in England, it means pertaining to home, plain, simple, unadorned.

Improve is an Americanism for opening a farm on wild land by cutting away the wood and brush, erecting buildings and fences, ploughing the ground and putting it in order. The buildings and fences are styled improvements.

Levee, in the United States, is often applied to ceremonious reception parties given by official personages, whether in the morning or evening. In England the word is restricted to morning receptions.

Loafer, Americanism for lounger or vagabond.

Loan, frequently used in the United States as a verb, but seldom in England, where lend is the usual word.

Lobby, verb, to attempt to exercise an influence on members of a legislative body by persons not members.

Locate, to determine and designate the place of, to settle in.

Logrolling (with the verb to logroll), a system of management by which a member of a deliberative or legislative body attempts to secure the adoption of a favorite measure, by inducing other members to vote for it in return for assistance in carrying their several pet measures. It originated in the mutual aid of the early settlers in clearing trees from the land.

Lot. a small tract of land, such as the subdivisions in towns. The English usually say " allotment."

Lumber means trash in England: in the United States, sawn wood for building and other mechanical purposes. Lumbering means making lumber; lumberman, one engaged in making it; and lumber merchant, one who sells it.

Mad is frequently used by Americans to signify angry; it is not so used by the English.

Mail is the ordinary word used in the United States to express the ideas conveyed by "post" in England. Americans sir "mail a letter," "send it by mail." In such expressions the English say " post."

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 plantations, 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 afternight 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.11 The Englishman 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.

Obnoxious 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,11 Ac. The Englishman would use "in."

Pantaloons (or more commonly pants), the common American 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" implies 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 Americans, 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. Hide 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 proper 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 Avar, 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; randy 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." etc.

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 store." are always used by the Americans to the exclusion of "book shop," etc.

Suspenders is the proper, as gallowses is the vulgar, American name for the articles known in England as braces.

Suspicion is sometimes used in western American newspapers 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 entertainment (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," meaning 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 spelling, is frequently used in the United States as a verb; thus, "The goods were wagoned across the mountains."

Will is generally used by the natives of the southern, western, 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 English term " a wood."

Vocabularies of Americanisms have been published by John Pickering (Boston, 1816), John Russell Bartlett (New York, 1848, new ed., revised, 1859), and Prof. Scheie de Vere (New York, 1872). Such multitudes of slang words are made every year in America and circulated 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.