Life, 1894-08-09 · page 10 of 14
Life — August 9, 1894 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Political Satire Analysis This page from *Life* magazine presents "Life's Glossary of Every-Day Expressions"—satirical definitions mocking contemporary institutions and social types. Key targets include: - **Actress**: A woman with newspaper clout and fashionable clothes - **New York**: Described as a "paradise for the rich, a purgatory for the poor"—critiquing wealth inequality - **Lawyer**: Someone who "knows more or less of the law"—mocking legal incompetence - **Sugar**: A commodity dealt in by U.S. senators—suggesting political corruption - **Poker**: A game demonstrating "natural law concerning a certain class of people and their money" The accompanying cartoon "A Gold Bug Opinion" appears to satirize wealthy elites ("gold bugs," likely referring to gold-standard advocates). The social commentary targets corruption, hypocrisy, and class inequality in Gilded Age America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: LIFE’S GLOSSARY OF EVERY-DAY EXPRESSIONS. COMPILED WITH(OUT) THE AID OF THE EDITORS OF THE CENTURY DICTIONARY, CTRESS: Sometimes a female person who can act; usually a female with a news- paper record, or one who has good clothes and knows how to wear them. Soap: A chemical compound avoid- ed by Anarchists, New YorK: A paradise for the rich, a purgatory for the poor. POLITICIAN: A near-sighted person who frequently mistakes tuum for meun, Water: A fluid found in all 2 ‘ parts of the world except the Aan, Desert of Sahara and the State chtyat of Kentucky. HACKMAN: A licensed highwayman. Rattway: A mechanical device for swindling investors. Toucu: A modification of one of the five senses which en- ables the possessor to live without labor by borrowing from friends and acquaintances. Lawyer: A person who knows more or less of the law. R: A commodity largely dealt in by members of the United States Senate, POKER: A pastime invented to demonstrate the truth of the natural law concerning a certain class of people and their money. ; PIANO: When you play on it yourself it’s a musical instru- ment; when some one else plays on it, itis an instrument of torture. “Stop, You nWUTE, OR I'LI. SOAK YOU ONE.” A “GOLD BUG” OPINION. Silver Senator: Do YoU SEE THAT FELLOW GOING ALONG THERE ? THEY SAY HE WAS DORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN HIS MOUTH. Eastern Friend: Ht LOOKS AS IF HE HAD BEEN BORN UNDER SOME CONDITION OF DEPRESSION. THE soax. comicbooks.com