Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-02
LINGUISTIC SINNERS.
The Common Grimes Of COnversa-
finn

ton
There are the careless people, those
who know the right, and yet the wrong
pursue. They plunge recklessly on with
out thought for the words they use /;
their sentences abound with exelamations
and expletives more expressive than
choice. Their slang phrases are an Of
fence TO cultivated ears; and they ex-
haust the superlatives of the language ON
the most ordinary occasions. It is they
who preface every sentence, even on triy-
ial topics, with, 'sMy stars 'By
George ''By Jupiter ''Graciousli'
''GOOd Lord Thunder ''You
bet ! y ''No, you don'tln In their vo-
cabulary, '1Oh! =" sIndeed, yesln
"Wel, " ''And-ahl" are as Tricky
strewn as leaves in Vallambrosa. With
them a funeral is 'jolly," prayer
meeting funny" an ordinary perform
ance is ''first-rate," the lowest round on
the ladder of beauty is 'sreal pretty; -
and their indiscriminate admiration is ex
pressed by the much abused epithets,
splendid, beautiful, magnificent, superb,
bewitching, fascinating, delicious, charm
ing, exquisite" etc. Any violation Of
law belonging to their code is ''shame-
full; a refusal TO conform TO their wishes
is ''hOrrid mean" common cold is
terrible, and a headache is ''beyond |
endurance. 4" They are always ''roasted, +"
or ''frOzen, or ''melted; - their friends |
are beautAed with every virtue, and their |
enemies are the oifscOurings of the race.
They so completely exhaust the language
on common occasions that no words are |
left to give expressions to their deeper |
feelings
A second class includes those vino yio-
late the laws of etymology. They have
been thoroughly trained in the grammar
OF the language, and yet refuse to be reg
ulated by its precepts. This class is a
large one, and includes among its auda-
ciOus sinners:
L. Those who use the objective case for
the nominatiYe; as, ''It is me, u for 'sIt is
L; st is her." for 'It Is she;n SIT is
US, for SIT is WEI
2. Those who use the nominatiye case
for the objective; as, 'sBetween YOU and
i for Between you and mel "i4ike
you and !, " for 'Like you and me;n 81
know who you mean, for '1know whom
you mean.n
). Those whose subjects and verbs do
not agree in number and person; as,
''Says /, for ''Say II ''You was, u for 7
''YOu were;n 'sNIy feet's cold" for 'GHy
feet are cold;" ''There's thirty" for
''There are thirty
4. Those who use the indicative mood
for the subjunctive; eff l was YOU
for '1f were you"
D. Those who use the present tense for
the past; Il see you yesterday" for 81
saw you yesterday
q. Those who use the intransitive verb
for the transitive; 'If he is q mind tO,n
for ''lf he has mind to.
z. Those who use incorrectly the much !
abused verbs sit and lie; as 81 am going
to lay down." for 81 am going 70 lie
down." 81 laid down this morning, ~ for
81 lay down this morning. 81 shall set
there, for 81 shall sit there"
8. Those who use the adverb for the
as ''She looks beautifully"
for 'she looks beautiful or its opposite,
''She walks graceful for ''She walks
gracefully"
9. Those who use a plural jective with
a singular noun; as, ''Those kind, " for
''That kind; six pair, y for six pairs"
10. Those who use the compound rela-
tive for the conjunction; as, 81 do not
know but what will, " for Il do not know
but that l will. =
II. Those who use the objective Gaze
after the conjunction 'Ihan," as, Gle |
knows more than me, for Gle knows !
more than !.
12. Those who use double heaaiiVes:
as, ''No you don't neither, y for '.No you
don't either"
13. Those who use the wrong preposi-
ton; as, different to;n for ''Different
FROM" SIN regard of for "With regard
to-"
IA. Those who use the superlaiive
degree for the comparative; as, ''The
Oldest of the two" for ''The older of the
twO.n