SOLDIERS' SLANG.
(TO THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."(
SIR,—May I offer some suggestions following on General Tyrrell's interesting letter in your issue of April 1st ? It has often occurred to me that there are words in the English language of Eastern origin, which is not generally realized. Some may have been brought home by the Crusaders, and perhaps some of our soldiers' slang words may be incorporated. Christmas." box" may be " buksh " (1)rdhil, "a gift "). "Khudda-buksh," a Muhamadan name, is the same as "Theodore," the gift of God. " Balcony " : Ogilvie and Annandale give its derivation from the Italian " balcone," a scaffold, and from "balk," a beam. " Bala- Khans " (Ordhil, an upper chamber) seems quite probable ; the Crusaders may have brought it to Italy. " Magazine " is almost identical in firdhfi. " Chintz " from " Cheent " (Ordhii, "spot"). The following are recent : To "crab," i.e., to run down, or depreciate, from Ordhfi, " krab "—bad. It is not the "cheese," not the correct thing, from " cheez " (trdhii, "thing "). EIrdhil, I need hardly add, is largely made up from Persian and Arabic words.—I am, Sir, &a.,
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