It would indeed be tedious to enumerate the vast number of French
words in our dialects. Many are literary words used in a peculiar
sense, often in one that has otherwise been long obsolete; such as
_able_, rich; _access_, an ague-fit; _according_, comparatively;
_to act_, to show off, be ridiculous; _afraid_, conj., for fear
that; _agreeable_, willing; _aim_, to intend; _aisle_, a central
thoroughfare in a shop, etc.; _alley_, the aisle of a church; _allow_,
to suppose; _anatomy_, a skeleton; _ancient_, an ensign, flag;
_anguish_, inflammation; _annoyance_, damage; _anointed_, notoriously
vicious; _apron_, the diaphragm of an animal; _apt_, sure;
_arbitrary_, impatient of restraint; _archangel_, dead nettle;
_argue_, to signify; _arrant_, downright; _auction_, an untidy place,
a crowd; _avise_ (for _advise_), to inform. It is needless to go
through the rest of the alphabet.
Moreover, dialect-speakers are quite capable of devising new forms
for themselves. It is sufficient to instance _abundation_, abundance;
_ablins_, possibly (made from _able_); _argle_, _argie-bargie_,
_argle-bargle_, _argufy_, all varieties of the verb _to argue_; and
so on.
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