Adverbs are generally placed in a sentence before adjectives, after verbs active or neuter, and frequently between the auxiliary and the verb: as, “He came, Sir, and he was most exceedingly drunk; he could hardly stand upon his legs; he made a very lame discourse; he spoke incoherently and ridiculously; and was impatiently heard by the whole assembly.” “He is fashionably dressed.” “She is conspicuously ugly.” “The eye of jealousy is proverbially sharp, and yet it is indisputably green.” “Britons may often be sold, but they will never be slaves.” “The French Marquis was a very charming man; he danced exquisitely and nimbly, and was greatly admired by all the ladies.”
Several adverbs have been coined in America of late; and some of them are very remarkable for a “particular” elegance: as, “I reckon you’re catawampously chawed up.”
In the example just given there is to be found, besides the new adverb, a word which, if not also new to the English student, is rendered so both by its orthography and pronunciation; namely, chawed. This term is no other than “chewed,” modified (as words, like living things, would seem to be), by transportation to a foreign country. “Chawed up” is a very strong expression, and is employed to signify the most complete state of discomfiture and defeat, when a man is as much crushed, mashed, and comminuted, morally speaking, as if he had literally and corporeally undergone the process of mastication. “Catawampously” is a concentration of “hopelessly,” “tremendously,” “thoroughly,” and “irrevocably;” so that “catawampously chawed up,” means, brought as nearly to a state of utter annihilation as anything consistently with the laws of nature can possibly be. For the metaphorical use of the word “chawed,” made by the Americans, three several reasons have been given: 1. Familiarity with the manner in which the alligator disposes of his victims. 2. The cannibalism of the Aborigines. 3. The delicate practice of chewing tobacco. Each of these is supported by numerous arguments, on the consideration of which it would be quite out of the question to enter in this place.
RULE XVI.
Two English negatives (like French lovers) destroy one another,—and become equivalent to an affirmative: as, “The question before the House was not an unimportant one;” that is, “it was an important one.” “His Lordship was free to confess that he did not undertake to say that he would not on some future occasion give a satisfactory answer to the right honourable gentleman.”
Thus, at one and the same time, we teach our readers Syntax and secretiveness.
It is probable that small boys are often unacquainted with this rule; for many of them, while undergoing personal chastisement, exclaim, for the purpose, as it would appear, of causing its duration to be shortened—“Oh pray, Sir, oh pray, Sir, oh pray, Sir! I won’t do so no more!”