Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1870-02-11

4
new studies 'jolly," and has gorgeous"
times at the Fair. When this fails, and
speech Is beggared once more, she resorts
to new creations Of her own, that never see
dictionary, nor are uttered by lips pro-
| fame, but which seem to her mono the worse
| for that. She knows no reason why "the
well of English undefled" should be done
bubblng now and though Messrs. wor-
cestcr and Webster may count up all the
words to be discovered in literature, she is
sure that somebody had to manufacture
them In the beginning to express his needs,
| and she claims the same right for herself
| So she coins queer, hoathenish epithets,
which never fail to adorn her burst of de-
scriptive eloquenco when the audience is
appreciative. Their spelling is a matter of
individual conjecture, and their meaning
no words can define. She has one such
adjective "geloptious'-th no one ever
saw in book or paper, but when she utters
1t is with a die-away expression of delight
and rapture, like that the painters give to
ST. Ceceio's eyes. She stigmatizes n long
lesson as 'tremender," and when she APP
pears in her new walking-suit she informs
her classmates that she is out in her "swel-
LYRIC" and they declare 1t TO be "jimmy"
and "splufous." Pardon me, dear little
word mongers, If l am irreverent to print
them; there are many others, endeared by
long use, that | keep treasured in my
heart
But our school girl knows full well that
these must all be banished to outer darkness
| lao, oh ha ehf,11 If
She has come to grief so often by indulging
in their barbaric splendors, that she keeps,
like the political orator, two sets of express
sions, for use in different localities. Teach
ers, parents and older sisters must bc adj
dressed in Addisonan phrase but only to
congenial souls, who feel, like her, the
force Of originality, does she pour out the
riches of her savage speech.
By-and-by, when all the vigor and free
dom Of her youth are past, and her days are
spent on parlor sofas, dischargiug the oner-
Gus duties of young lady in society, she
will confine herself to two unexceptionable
epithets-"very nice" and Every unfortu-
nate'-and innocent expletives and vio
lent superlatives will be tanned down into
we'll constructed phrases, as flat, stale and
improbable as the life she will lead while
using them. Then good honest Saxon
speech Will give her "shlNer' Inv oi"S' Va
the outer air: and unless the edge and
and force of language be tax en- of in synon-
vines made from French or Latin, she Will
consider it wholly unfit for her delicate,
sensitive mind.
We may forgive the school girl for all
4.
one, and that is the liberty she takes with
her own goodly Christian name. She re-
sents nothing so much as an attempt to
give this appellation i'm full. The uueenly
Eliznbetbs and GATHERINGS. the noble Mar
parets and Helens, with all their historic
and family associations. are sunk without
- mana, in tho vanid cborocterless I.izzies
and Lo,ies tbe Naggios and Nellies. which
onneor 90 absurd on the grave. printed
naaes sucb Authorizations will do for the
dailv intercourse of friends; but even
,,o,, ,,. may ouestion whotber the oxpres-
,;or or ondearment imnlied in their con-
traction and French ending does not come
with better grace from another than the
owner. and whether il be not out of taste to
sign ones own name in such an affection
ate and caressing fashion, even in famil-
lar note. But however this may be, nc
one can read down the register of girls
names in any school catalogue, with its
inevitable call-me- pet names-dearest- air
without wondering that teachers, as well as
schoolgirls, should be lost to all sense o
the purity Of the English tongue and the
honor and dignity Of the female sex. II
women arc ever to go TO congress, or 10
command respect on starting III the career
ana PROFESSIONS 10 winch 'ney aspire, they
must nave so"ie."'"s NOR suoS''','iai "
apponu ,,ao n.a ri,,n;os and N,onios and
,,,hio,, ,,,,,, ,,,,,, or, ,,o.tinociorsl,
-. 1,,'a. tt, car,, a .ro,o;or,I,
,,a-,e;sod nor,oncloturo for bu,tora;o. -,
g. -. uho rots Of IN I,s,or, I,.,ro,,
who oro eunrosed IN h,ve M souIs In,
thov can rovcr he rendered iIIpstrious -,
honorable ar even imnrcpnatcd with an,
/, flavor ofipdividuoI life
mt all ARGUMENTS must fail IN convinc,
tho school Girl of this folly. Whom she ho,
mode nm her mind on any subiect II 10 mad,
up efIectuallv. and she admits no POSSIBLE
ty OF change. She forms at once the mos
pronounced and positive opinions upor
every question that presents itself to he
mind. That flmv. nebulous STATE tbrougl
which matter is said TO mas, bcforc plobin,
itself into tbe solid nIonot finds M corros
nondenco in the shonino Of bor ideas \,
haze or hesitation retards their co,,nlet.
expression. they lean like cbrvstals into
nerrect form at shock She would he do
cided as IN tho orioip of OWL the outbor n