The Nevada Democrat., 1858-01-20
Thoughts About Words.

We often hear men Of good sound sense-in
telligent men-complain Of the afectation oi
"hard words" by journalists, and we must con
fess that good old vigorous Saxon Is getting TO
be sadly neglected In some quarters, though not
more perhaps by newspaper writer's than BY
Others who provide ailment for the pubic MIND.
The present is said to be . practical age, and
80 1t would seem, in everything but writing and
talking. Babies, we know, are natural produc-
tions; but it il astonishing how altogether artl-
fetal the adults become, particularly in the
matter Of words. Quite often we hear little
men laboring under load Of words bigger than
themselves -straining TO up end nouns and ad-
verbs, huge "sesquipedalans," eighteen inches
to the foot.
Nowadays nobody Is "women" that doesn't
work for O living; sick felix's do not get well,
they only "convalesce;" ladies make their toi-
1stte though they never comb their hair; none
but common people 60 to bed, or bid one good
night; they invariably "retirs," or give you
"good evening" Whenever gentlemen eat cold
beans, it 10 dignihed into taking a "slight re-
past" Such thing as naked Cupid has not
been known for number Of years-lt is only
'nude;" what our simple old grandmothers
called gowns are now "dresses," and posies are
all "bequets." Our good old proper names,
too, handed down through succeeding genera
tions from the days Of Egbert and Ethelwolf,
bat now attacked by the ruthless tooth Of time,
are fast losing their fair proportions. The fair
haired Martha Of our boyhoed is now the quite
of-another-sort- -of-a-thing, "Mattie;" Harriette
is "Hattie;" Caroline is "Carrie;" Matilda is
''Tillie," and so on, ad dbsudum
Plain, simple Saxon is fg-leaved, and house
hold words rugged out in foreign aprons, as IL
'In Adams fall, they sinned ALL"
Let man put on o coat-prics five dollars
and no one would ever suspect him OF doing SC
grand thing as making bis toilette We were
once greatly Impressed with the refinement Of a
lady who fairly startled us with the inquiry ii
we would have some "asparrowgrass;" giving
rs to understand that she used no such plebelan
term as ''sparrergrass" We shouldn't wonder
II 'she was the identical person who proposed
building porto-rico In front and pizarro in
the rear Of the house, while the lawn was to be
degraded.
II il q curious circumstance. to say the least,
that when man is really angry or thoroughly
In earnest, he at once proceeds to use words
without aprons, or as we have heard the express
sien, words with the bark off, and talks the
plainest kind of English. The oxen aud dray
horses hear better Saxon--though possibly
worse morality-than some audiences that wait
on public speakers. and many readers that wait
en- the public press, good strong Saxon, as d.
rect as one Of SOILS MONDAY beams. To rise
ct once from dray horses to poets, what can
be more homsspun than the following familiar
ines: ...
''The curfew tolls the knell Of parting day,
The lowing heard winds slowly DER the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and TO me-"
When man grows eloquent, 1t Is the Saxon
element that lends wings to his soaring thought;
so we hnd whole paragraphs from Chatham and
Junius, and Webster and Everett are ell Eng
lish, and whole columns from Sophcmores and
newspaper writer's are full Of Latin roots and
Greek particles With Churchill, we conclude
''where do the words Of Greece and Rome excel,
That England may not please the ear as welli
What mighty magic'sin the place or air,
That all perfection needs must centre theref'
-Pdeifc Com. AdUtr.