Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1860-04-27
COMMON WORDS.

COMMON WORDS.
What curious difference in meaning has
the same word, according as it is spoken
by one mouth or another, written by one
pen or another, suggested by one circum-
! stance or anotherl When the Crystal
! Palace Company presses into its service
! all the colours of the rainbow for the pur-
| pose of informing tie Public that there
will be grand musical entertainment in
| honour of anybody whose name will col
| lcct multitude, and that the tickets will
vary in price from guinea to five shil-
| lings; or that there will be a fOwer-slrow,
| or poultry show, or man and woman
show, on a particular Friday-which is
! half-crown day-it is clear tnnt the Public
alluded to must be composed of persons
very different in habits, tastes, pursuits,
means, and, to q certain extent, gender,
| from those who arc respectfully reminded
that the Tiverton Slnsher will take his
benefit on such and such Il day at the
! Westminster Baths" upon which occasion
! there will be assembled a galaxy of fiStic
! talent. Nor do we imagine that the Public
| which is requested to make early Nppllc0-
j ton to "Gdipus," who has named the
winner of every race for the last thrceyears,
! without frilurc, has much i'll common with
I the Public whose attention is called to the Re-
| port of the Society for the Promotion of
| Social Science. Moreover, whoever feels
/ himself included in the number of those
! to whom that significant sentence in the
| Registrar-gcncrnl'S Report the public
health has suffered greatly from the in
| clemency of the wcather"-applics? Yet
| every one allows that his own health IS
part of the public health. Few of tie Pub
| lie whose "health suffers from the inclcm-
! encv of the weather have their names,
/ ages, and virtues recorded in the first
| column of the Times; that isn't the Public
which the undertakers are so anxious to
| bury at economical charges; that PHdhc
! doesn't sit on chairs, but on door-stePs;
! doesn't sleep in beds, but in bridge reces-
ses; doesn't die Of Np0plcXy, but ot=Tuant-
ton.
But perhaps this samcness of word and
difference of Specification are nowhere
more remarkable than in the terms td"y
and gentleman. ''Me and another lady was
having IL few words" raises in your mind
10 image of those beings whose health is
! so clouucntly proposed and so gracefully
acknowledged at the Mansion House or
the London Tavern; nor when you hear {"
railway guard ask gruf1ly at the door of "
third-class carriage: 'E'cr one O you
ladies want to get out at Stcpney? Y do
you feel at all the same emotion MS when
the same guard says obsequiously: rms
way, miss, plcase-first-class." In the
FIRST case. YOU sit immovablc; in the sec
ond, ten to one you look out OF the window
of your carriage. We imngine, too, that
the worthy proprietor of the two penny
wnx-work to which VIC went in childhood,
| had different people in view, wien nc
'.respcctfully Informed the nobility and
! gentry tlat no lady or gentleman was
allowed to enter in q state of intoXcatlon,'
from the Indies and gentlemen to whom
the Lord Chamberlain gives instruction IN
the event of their wishing to be presented
TO Her Majesty. 1t would be amusing to
observe Il meeting between ga doosid gen.
tlemanlike fellah" according to the notions
of Capt. the Hon. Henry Cavalry, and the
same description of fellow-crcature nccor-
ding to the Judgment of Mr.. Scrioble, the
clerk; the contrast, VIC are sure, would
strike no one more than the "teIlahs'
themselves each would search for an
icxplanation of the existence of the other
tif they had happened to hear of the book
in Darwin's Origin Of Species. Il perfect
gentleman is by no means n constant term !:
it varies directly us the turn of mind OF
the person using it. Mrs. Tubbs, the
lodging house keeper, thereby would have
YOU to wit of one who is unconscious OF
the rapid consumption with which grocer
les arc afflicted, who is unaffected by nys-
tcrious disappearance of liquor, VINO pc
lieves that coal and candle can kindle
themselves and burn away, and is content
TO examine only the total of his weekly
bills. Thomas, the waiter uses, the same
words to express his feelings of gratitude
towards the munfcent being who dcspises
small change; and the lady who lives in
the fashionable square can find no more
honorable title to hcstow upon her pet
minister And now that we are upon
this subject, we seize with avidity the
opportunity of pointing ont wherein con-
sists-or did consist when coach ran
between Oxford and Cambridge gen'P-
man. and how the 0xonian established
his claim to be considered "more of gem
'rmnn" than the CAntnb. The driver of
| The inter-university coach is our authority,
and we feel, therefore, that we speak in q
manner er cdthedr0. "The Oxford gen =
man." said the worthy driver, sis more OF
a gen'Fman than the Cambridge gen man,
though they're both very nice gen linen.
and Stands their bottle O. wine to me like
gen'Imen; but here's the difference o.
6reediu', you see the Cambridge gen'P-
man he calls out hearty: atom. old boy,
'clp vourself;" the Oxford gen'rman sits
down aforc INC, clips hissc!f passes the
bottle across to me, and says: "Tom,
looks towards YOU likewise mods.
How various, again are the ideas convey
cd bv the word Serrant 1t is often neces-
snrS to strengthen it by an epithet, such
as domestic, before you can feel sure that
Won will be understood. Why the mar
who declares in black and white that he
is your humble Serr0nt, is the likeliest man
in the world to knock you down II you
ordered him to black your boots. AND
whom Won heAr ANYBODY Boosting that he