B 'Hoy And G' Hals Analysis

Cassidy Pinchorski
Professor Rineer
English 110
25 September 2014
“B’hoys” and “G’hals” The work of Walt Whitman, an American poet and journalist, prevailed during the same era as the emergence of the slang used in the Bowery District of New York City. Along with his other famous works, “Whitman claimed responsibility for creating and defining the term b’hoy and g’hal” (Reynolds 465). The shift in New York culture due to the increase of Irish immigrants allowed Whitman to gain a new perspective, on not only himself, but also the people around him. As a result, beginning in 1846, the slang terms b’hoy and g’hal became progressively more familiarized in the Lower Manhattan culture. B’hoy and g’hal, Irish pronunciations of the boy and the gal,

The Bowery District, located in lower Manhattan, used these terms to describe and identify boys and girls by their fashion and behavior. These terms became very popular by the Irish that had immigrated to the city. The b’hoys “pride and their passion developed their independence,” as well as their individuality (History Weekly 3). They could do whatever they wanted in order to take care of themselves. As for the g’hals, they tended to work hard, be patient, and be just as independent as the b’hoys. The idea for the bowery B’hoy emerged from the play “A Glance at New York.”, written by Benjamin Baker. The play featured a Bowery b’hoy, named Mose, and his girlfriend Lisa, a g’hal. The couple captured the audiences’ attention because they represented New York’s demographic at the time. The popularity of both Mose and Lisa developed into the city’s social lifestyle and

European immigrants moved into the area and caused the Bowery b’hoys to leave. The immigrants mainly took over the markets, and replaced the culture of the Bowery District. Shortly after, the culture of the Bowery b’hoys and g’hals faded from the city of Manhattan altogether. These slang terms became no longer popular and ended the popularity of characters Mose and Lisa. The Bowery b’hoys and g’hals eventually became a part of our history and ceased to