Cant [ Language & Speech ]
… as hypocritical perversions of language. In the long eighteenth century, the two meanings co-existed, as exemplified by Johnson's entries concerning the term in his Dictionary of the English Language 1 , and the word was used in several … perversions were quite appreciated by the general public and could afford interesting commercial opportunities. In 1760, Samuel Foote's comedy entitled The Minor , in which George Whitefield's mannerisms and appearance were mocked by the … certain class or body of men. 3. A whining pretension to goodness, in formal and affected terms. 4. Barbarous jargon.’ Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language [1755], The sixth edition (London, 1785). 2 . For more details on …
Controversy | Conversation | Hypocrisy | Rhetoric
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