Delaware State journal and statesman., 1861-07-23

WHY NOT USE PLAIN WORDS =


THE SPORTING JOURNALS.
Then there is the sporting fine writing, whereI
If ever, fine writing seems in Its proper place
The sportsman delights in epithets, as "rosy
morn" dewey eve" echoing hills" 'tmo-
ther earth,' "sylvan shades" fox is Rey-
nard, a cock Chanticleer. A shepherd with his
dog is Z" the guardian of the flock with his
canine assistant" Cricket is "the noble game;
racquet, s'the manly exercise" The sportsman
is fond of quotations from the Eton Latin Gram
mar. Rara apis, eaueqt emPtor, Pootd adseifnr'
prinaUs inter omnes, and other such phrases easy
10 constrne, are great cards with him The
quotations, too, are generally only repetllions
OF what had gone before, as, ave council o
middle course-MediO tutissinlus bis,' eve
give something in return--a qaid pro quo. =
The sportsman's love of fne writing, and his
classical knowledge combined, make him call the
sun - bright Ph@bus," and the north wind
''rude Boreas," and the sea " Neptunes wateIy
domain and dog-hreaker q "kunop@dist. -
Now and then he is at fault, as, were wishing TO
use the word parallelogram adverbially, he says
that he hunts his dogs parallelogramatically"
(TAe Field, No. 4071, but at least he has used a
long word. The sportsman delights, too, in
sme, which he thinks sounds well, however
little sense may there be in il, as " the winecup
of victory was snatched from his lips"
WIFE rs LADY, AND ha1Uihh.
Akin to our subject is the love of affested
inery ia titles In almost every newspaper you
may see this announcement; siThe lady of W.
| Smith, Esq, of a SON." Mr. Smith, Of course,
cannot use the word "wfe" friend Of mine
was asked in the pit of theatre if there was
any room for a lady? He replied, he had no
doubt lady would find room in the boxes ; but
if roman really wanted to ait dswn he would
make room for her The title Of "esquirs' too,
tn
expects himself in return, is, J. think, another
sign of the love Of the age for Infected inery.-
Horace Smith defined " esquire" ga title very
much in use among vulgar people" gentle
man named Salton had footman named William
Long, and one morning there came to the house
letter directed, :. William Long, Esq, at Mr.
Salton's" A brewers clerk in Wiltshire was
told by his master to call all tradesmen esquire,
"0r," said he, 1--WE shall have no more orders
for beer"
MORE SPECIMENS
horse doctor now calls himself "yeterin-
ary surgeon" An author is o literary gentle-
man farmer an agricultural gentleman
bagman, commercial gentleman; bar
rister, gentleman of the long robe"; thief,
light fingered gentleman" and a merchant
gentleman engaged in mercantile pursuits
A man used to go to law, he now "institutes
| legal proceedings"; he used to go to the doctor,
he now i" consults his medical adviser"
t'I want some cheese" said in a grocer's
| shop at L.
THAT gentleman will serve you,' said the
master, pointing to a well-curled youth in an
apron.
On the doors Of the rooms set apart for men
or women in the French railways, you see the
words Hommes or Femmes' On our doors you
sec Gentlemea or Ladies. The French, in gem
eral more given to compliment than we, are in
this instance right and we are vulgar anu
foolish.
Juries are always addressed as "gentlemen
Of the jury; but think it would 10 better 10
use only the word "jurymen" for in nine
cases out Of ten, except in the grand and special
Q juries, the title gentleman" both by courtesy
a and hy law, is inapplicabe.
I There Is too, the fine English of the shop.
keeper who styles himself " the proprietor OIL
p the establishment" He that used to 9 sell by
auction, now submits to public competition
instead of giving notice." he iniimates TO the
public" instead of raising his clerks wages
he Judgments his salary" Somebody going
into a shop in Regent street to buy half mourning
was referred by the shopman to the mitigated
affiction department" tradesman of whom
bought some lamp-oil, sent it home "with Mr.
Clark's compliments and solicitations" One
man sells unsophisticated GIN" and another
lets gentemanly apartments in close promixi
ty to the bank" They call floor cloth, kamp
tulicon; and boots, antigropelos; and soap
rygephagon; and though last, not least, 0
saucepan, anheidrohepseterion.
have tried to show by these examples how
destructive Of our beautiful language, and how
foolish it is to use fine words and expressions il
common talk and writing upon common things
"To elothe, says Fuller, GLOW creeping matter
. with high-fOwn language is not fine fancy, but
fiat foolery. 1t rather loads than raises a wrsr
to fasten the feathers of an ostrich to her wings.
We may consider it general rule that the best
, English is that in which Saxon-derived word
are used the most freely; that ii is better, fol
common purposes at least, to say "like" thai
= " similar" "help" than " assist" "giye" thar
present." /" beg" than "solicii," ''kinsman'
' than s'relation," neighborhood" than It vi
l cinity," "praise" than " eneomium."
rha; is good advice Of the author Of Glesse
D at Truth: " When you doubt between two words
choose the plainest the conmonest, the mos
. idiomatic Eschew fine words as you woul,
iTouge love simple ones as you would nativ
Y roses on your cheeks.
Let US then call spade spade Let us us
" tho plainest and shortest words that will gram
n matically and gracefully express our meaning
n