Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-03-12
Wheat-hedge, ". J.
From The Old and New lor February
Linguistic Sinners-The Common
Crimes of Conversation,

There are careless people, those "who
! know the right fnd yet the wrong pur.
sue" They plunge recklessly on, with.
out thought for the words they use
their sentences abound with exclamalions
aud cxplcti,es more expressive than
choice. Their slang phrases are an of
tense to cultivated ears and they ex.
haust the superIatives Of the language on
the most ordinary occasions. II is they
who preface every sentence even on triv.
ial topics, with ''My Stars 20 SPY Jupi-
ter :" "By Gcorge!'' '.Gracious .''' Good
Lord !" ''Thurder % ''You bet p 'No,
you don't ~ In their vocabulary, "Oh r'
'Indeed, yes p "Well % "And alb ~ are
as thickly strewn as leaves in Vallam-
brosa. With them funeral is ':jolly," a
prayer-meeting "tunny," an ordinary per-
tormance is ''frst-rate," the lowest round
on the l&dder of beauty is ''real pretty p
and their indiscrminate admiration is ex-
pressed by the much-abused epithets,
splendid, beautiful, magnificent, superb,
bewitching, fascinating, charming, deli
cious, exquisite" &c, Any violation of
law belonging To their code is ''shame-
ful )" a refusal to contorrI 10 their wishes
Is "horrd mean > Il common cold is ter
rible," and Il headache is 'beyond endu-
rance" They are always roasted" or
"frozcn," or melted y their friends are
beaHtified with every virtue /; and their
enemies are the ofscourings Of the race.
They SO completed Y exhaust the language
on common occasions that 10 words are
left to give expressions TO their deeper
feelings.
A second class iuclules those who Vi
olate the laws OF etymology. They have
been thoroughly trained III the grammar
Of the language, and yet refused to be
regulated by its precepts. This class +;
large one, aud includes among its auda-
cioIs sinners
/. Those who use the objective case
for the iiominative /; as, sit is me-" for
''It is y sit is her," for 'It is she : III
is us" for sit is we."
.. Those who use the nominatfSe ease
for the objective /; as, "B4l&een you and
II for "Eetween you and me = Like
you and l." for Like you and Inc )" Il
know who yoF mean for 81 Know whom
you mean"
8. Those who use subjects verbs that
do not agree in number and person; as
"Says l." for Say p 'You waSp for
"You were - "My fpet's cold" for "My
feet :rre cold "There's thirty" for "There
are thirty"
4. Those who use the Indicative mood
for the suhjunctive "rf was you," for
If were you."
5. Those who use the present tense for
the past; 4" | see you yesterday" tor " /
saw you Yesterday" c... ,.
6. Those who use the intransitive
verb for the transitive; eff he is q mind
to-" for " If he has a mind to-" ...,
I. Those who use incorrectly the much
abused verbs sit and lie, as " / am going
to lay down." Tor 81 am going TO lie
down" !" " laid dom ills morning" for
" lay down this mornings" " | shall set
there" for " shall sit there"
s. Those who use the adyerb for the
adjective; as /" She looks beautifully" tor
" She looks Beautifully" or its opposite,
" She walks graceful for "She walks
gracefully"
0. Those who use plural adjective
with n singular nour as "those kind"
for "Tlat Kind y "SIx pair" for 4" Six
pairs"
10. Those who use the compound rela-
tive for .he conjunction; as, =" do not
know but whal will" tor 81 do not
know but that l will" 49,. ..,-
IL. Those who use the objective case
after the conjunction "than !" as, "lie
knows more than me-" for " He knows
more than l." -... .r
rINl 10 tixaS