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Page 20 text:
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Moreover, too much use of slang limits the vocabulary. If we form the habit of using slang phrases we necessarily exclude from our vocabulary those v rords which would beautify and give refinement to our speech. When we indulge in extravagances of language to im- part some trifling idea, we have no words adequate to express a more serious thought. Not only, then, is slang inadequate, but it denotes a lack of breeding, culture, and re- finement. In using slang we are really defeating the purpose of our education. Of what good is hour after hour spent in studying English grammar and the choicest literature, if outside of the class-room w e utterly disregard the things we have learned? There are times in everyone ' s life when he wishes to make a good impression. How is this to be done if one ' s vocabulary is limited to a mediocre knowledge of good English and an exten- sive and varied knowledge of slang? We are judged fully as much by our conversation as by a prepossessing personal appearance. Abraham Lincoln was not a handsome man yet he held people spell bound by his simple, fluent English. While we cannot all be Abra- ham Lincoln ' s we can at least try to do ourselves justice by speaking our mother tongue in a way in which we would not blush to be heard by those who know and appreciate good English. ELIZABETH L. LINSON. APPRECIATION Did you ever stop to sniff the air about you? Such a very curious question did you say? Why you ' re missing half the joy of things about you: Just the homely common things of every day. In the morning there ' s the smell of toast and coffee. That makes rising not so hard as it might seem. There ' s the cool and balmy breath of morning fragrance. And the not so pleasant odor — gasoline. Then there comes the smell of library or ■workroom. As the busy toil of each day is begun; Then the pleasant, sweeter breath of evening coming. And the knowledge that a good day ' s work is done. O, the characteristic perfumes of the seasons That have long been sung in poetry and prose. Make us humans have a number of good reasons To thank the good Creator for a nose. OLIVE MYERS. AtKenian NigKt Tis night: o ' erhead the midnight blue of the sky is strewn with stars. Here in the nar- row sordid ways — streets of this ancient city of the Attic state — a moonbeam lingers, glory- ing them. It strays among the chiseled d eties, born of the art of Phidias, quickening them to life. Gods do they seem, and goddesses, as when in ancient days they dv relt above the Olympian mount, worshipped by manly sport, by music rare, by sacrifice meet to their godly pow er. Now they but live in marble, shattered and scarred ; worn by the flight of time and circumstance. The moonbeam passes by — they are no more. ETHEL H. DAVIS.
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Page 19 text:
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Slang To the American people as a whole have been assigned many faults, but perhaps the commonest accusation brought against us is our careless, inaccurate, and slangy habits of speech. We speak without thought, using the words and expressions that come first to our minds, regardless of their fitness or elegance. We misuse our adjectives until we lose sight of all finer distinctions and are unable to find words to express the difference be- tween awful w eather and an aw ful tragedy. We speak with as much enthusiasm of our love for chocolate macaroons as we do of our love for some person vsrho is dear to us. Moreover, our speech is often ungrammatical. Many people, who could speak correct English, if they would, and who even pride themselves on their ability, will calmly say — It don ' t matter. It is a regrettable truth, in these days, that he who speaks simply and correctly, yet with telling effect, is the unusual person. Very often, too, we are careless in our enunciation. We slur our words and phrases We speak of boys ' n girls for boys and gfrls, I saw ' em for I saw them, ' k ' u for thank you and yeh for But perhaps worst of all our faults in speech is nr use of Slang. By definition Slang is inelegant and unauthorized popular language, consisting of words and expressions of low or illiterate origin and use, or of legitimate expressions, used in grotesque, irregular, or metaphorical senses not approved by reputable usage and good taste. It is practically impossible to go about among young people, and even among many older people, without hearing slang in some form. In passing two boys on the street, one may overhear a bit of conversation on this order — ' Ho, got your Caesar? Nope — not all of it — ' sno cinch, believe me! Say ' ve you read this book? Its hot stuff; take it from me. For the love o Mike, look at that Lizzie — some class — ' ey wot? I ' ll say so! A little further one one may overhear two girls And I said, ' Wa ' de ya ' take me for! ' Here, have some candy. Thanks, I will. I love ' em, they ' re terribly good but horribly expensive. Say, will you look at that hat! Isn ' t that perfectly killing? Well, I should say — it ' s a perfect scream! That color ' s a crime! And it is not only on the street that one hears such things. In the best-regulated Nor- mal Schools we hear, Cut it out! Have a heart! You tell ' em! You ' ve got bats in your belfry, Dawggone it, or some other equally elegant expression. It has been said in favor of slang that there are some words or phrases peculiarly apt w hich express ideas with especial force and vividness. This is partially true. I can ' t think of any words quite so descriptive of the kind of basket ball game one likes to see as peppy and snappy, nor of any expression that can quite so well describe the conversation of some people as hot air, vulgar though it is, nor any term quite so characteristic of a certain type of people as buffers. Neither do I know of any phrase that so fits the attitude of a certain few as being on the fence. Yet all of these are undoubtedly slang and certainly not according to Hoyle. It is the constant use of such expressions that render them aa monotonous as they were once refreshing. Francis H. Lee says in an article on the origin of slang that one great trouble with slang is that it often profanes or renders ludicrous something that occurs in a sublime or pathetic scene. He gives as an illustration of this an incident in Dickens ' A Tale of Two Cities. When Sidney Carton with sublime self-sacrifice gives his life for his friend, his head falls into the executioner ' s basket as the knitting women, who are counting off the num- ber of victims, say, Twenty-three. It is almost impossible to repress a smile because of the meaning peculiarly appropriate here — suggested by the slang association of the expres- sion. 15
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