The Greene County Republican. [volume] (Waynesburg, Pa.) 185?-1867, 1866-06-13
HOW DO WE TALK ?

what does it consist 3! And where
the dividing line between conversation
and gossip? How do people talk i
stages and cars, steamboat and terr
lines pleasant weather'-as lhougl
every mortal with eyes in his head an,
sense to feeling in his bones couldn'
judge for himself on this topic. 'Lkel,
to rain before night-a still more startl
ing piece Of information. The fact is
we Americans are too reticert abou
what We read and learn, aud really, ac
tually think. We float too much on til,
surface--wc have horor of gong dowr
deep We like good, substantial read
ing the standard authors of this coultr,
and England are familiar TO every mar
or woman who pretends to the sligh,es
degree of literary culture, and we gras)
eagerly at every novelty that issues fron
the press, but we do not like to talk
books , We fancy very elroneously
that it makes us appear pedantc; We
have horror of seeming too learned. es.
pecially among ladies'. Aud so, by way
OF avoiding Scylla, We run pont blank
upon the weather.
Has the reader ever sa, IN the midst Of
a room full of young people, and smiled
inwardlyt to hear the feast of reason and
the flower of soul How comicalIy the
half connected sentences blend into each
other, senseless Stream of words Com,
ing home from the last matinee
'larry's mrstache flirting in the NOS,
ridiculous manner with Katy'-'the
trimmings on Mrs. M,le's dove>c ,lored
dress two new bonnets, with the
sweetest Frenck flowers -'Jim's de'gW.
fW side whiskers' - walking down
Broadway with young lady on each
side OF him never, never speak to her
again, as long as | llve'--gray horses
with delicious long eating ice.
cream at Dtlm monico's'-'four dollars
and halfa yard at the very least
well, I neverH
And this is conversation This is tn,
onnobling, refining element that Is sup
posed to be the greatest blessing OF
social lite!'
There Is a great deal to be said upon
our peculiar choice of phraseology, 1t
will never do to be accused of talking
"dictionary,' 80 we converse in a style
not very far removed from the provincial
dialect Of camp of English gipsies -
A slang phrase, originating IN the column
of a newspaper, or set atloat on the wings
of a popular anccdote, flies over the
country with telegraphic swiltness, and
becoms incorporated With our language
in an incredibly short space of time. We
relish the innovation, A fine sunset,
glowing with tints of carmine and liquid
gold, is 'splend'ferou''-a perfect rain
bow, aching sublimely as an epic poem.
is jolly We do not walk, we peg
along-wc DO not destroy, we 'gobhle
UP Instead of Withdrawing, we 'Skc-
dadde' or 'mosay,' and when we hear
that our ncighbors mischevous boy has
been 'spanjazzled,' we merely infer that
his ofenses have at length received their
merited punishment Our expression
for differing IN opinion from friend is
that we don't see it, and if he is defeat.
ed in the course Of argument, he dries
up.' Should a man become the victim
Of practical joke, he is 'soldi' and when
he tai in business, he bursts up;' while
our highest degree of commentator is
concentrated III the one comprehensive
word, bully
Truly there is nothing like an original
style of conversation! The general
diffusion of knowledge has apparently
succeeded in slrewing these flowers of
speech broadcast ,over the land, on the
universal education plan, and they aow
in silver modulations tiom the scarlet
lips Of beauty quite as frequently as they
are growled out from beneath q heavy
mustache.
This is ali wrong, from bcginnng tc
end. Is it rot barbarous, literally bar
barous, to corrupt grand old language
like ours into such absurd trivaities 7
rakingis an art, and rs such it should
be cultivated, especially among our
ladies, who have 1t in their power to in
huence the whole tide and current Of social
life. OF what use is all the education
that we lavish upon our girls if they can
not sustain crelitable part in CONVEX
sation? Take any young lady OF tho
present day, and observe the stages OF
chit>cha, BY whicn she gradually devel-
ops--.s,ages that are too typical OF her
mental growth. From fourteen to six