The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-11-18
SlaYsc UaafS SyutHx.


Slang and Syntax.
The number of well-cducated people who
habituallv speak correct English is very
small. A great many who consider them.
selves good gramEarians constantly indulge
in expressions that Lindlcy Murray wouldn't
know how to parse, and that our modern
grammarians would utterly condemn. We
can forgive those who from imperfect culture
always will say sit aint" for "it isn't" and
"Ell learn You" for "Pll teach you; but,
when graduates from our common schools
persist in such inaccuracies, it is time protest
should be entered, and they be called to ac-
count for corrupting the Kings English.
1t Is not only with grammatical errors,
however. that we have now to deal. Hurt
tul as these are. they are less injurious to the
language of social life than that vast class Of
expressions that are covered by the word
slang" Bad grammar is not nearly so con-
tagious as pqlIant, yet faulty, expression. 1t
is certainly better to violate rule OF gram
mar or language than TO break one OF the
ten commandments, to express the Intensity
of ones emotions in slang rather than IN
profanity. Such is the intirmity of human
nature that the best of us feel at times COM
PEELED to use vigorous and unusual phrase
ology. 1t is we'll to remember that even in
such cases we shall accomplish more III the
way of forcible diction by coolly selecting our
expressions, by polishing our invectlvc, 10y re-
tiniug our epthets, than we can possibly do by
indulgipg i'll Billingsgate, or profanity, or
slang. 4 witty scientist once slienced a
London tishwoman, who was pouring out
at him food of vile talk, by hurling at her.
in emphatic tones, the language of paleoli-
tology, thus: You ichthyosaurus, you pte-
rodactyl. I'll send you to the paleozoic re-
gions; I'll feed you on cephalopods, and
Saurians shall consume your parletals." I'D
blank silence the woman stared ut her enc
my, and could not utter word in reply.
we have all noted and admired the grace
and elegance with which educated foreigners
speak our language. The secret of this lies
in their careful pronunciation, their accurate
observance Of grammatical rules, and thelI
total ignorance OF slang. They talk, as we
say, like book. The conscientious and
habitual avoidance OH our part of all impure
English will make our language chaste, and
elegant, and expressive, as is theirs. This
NAV be done without the slightest aflecta
ton.
1t is frequently the case that children III
our schools every day Use slang and bad gram
mar, and are not corrected. Teachers refrain
from doing their duty from fear of hurting
the feelings Of their parents, from whom the
children have learned these errors. This is
all wrong. Every teacher should feel in duty
bound to SOW the seed Of correction by all
waters. and, so flras she can, educate parents,
through their children, into the Use OF fault
less English. In the South the temptation to
borrow original and racy idioms from the
class formerly held in servitude is almost ire
siStible, and iii private circles, where the
standard of syntaN is not the very highest,
the derivation of words used, and the man
ner of putting them together, present many
puzzlin. and amusing phrases. AS arule,
southern men and boys use better language
than their wives and sisters, because less
| tcmpted by constant hearing Of African
| ictiolns to depart from the purity OF their na-
| tive tongue.
Every section has its peculiarities Of pro-
nunciation. its idiom>, its provinclalismS, and
in proportion rs ones language is fau!tless
are all these features removed, and it be-
comes impossible to tell the northerner from
the southcrncr, the New Englander from
the Californian, the American from the
EDgliShman.
Cicero says that the men cf his time noted
for their elegance of language learned OF
their mothers TO speak their native tongue
with precision, and never knew how to talk
but with proprety. OF Caesar it was said
he was incapable Of talking as private man.
To the cultured eur no music is so delight
full rs the constant flow Of elegant thought
in exquisite diction. Only by loving and
discriminating study Of words, by careful
exclusion of all questionable phrases, by an
artistic choice of language, can this rare and
enyiable accomplishment be made ones own.
From the lips Of beauty how discordantly
fall the clashngs of false syntaX and provin-
| cial slang. What sad contrast we often see
between the spotless and sllinsng silken
robes that drape the figure Of loneliness and
the bcdraggled, muddy. ragged phrase that
clothes the vacuty Of thought. How freely
does snowy linen, shining kip, and immacu.
late broadcloth covering an ignorant sou!
supply the place of vigor of thought EN-
bodied in forcible and Addisonian phrase.
When the two are combined, as in William
Pinckney and Charles Dickens, all the world
Yields to their destinations, and admires the
setting not less than the jewel.
We do not wish to talk blank-verse LII the
bosom of our families, but the rhythm OF
well-balanced sentences will not make loved
voices less musical the absence Of every
clumsy and incorrect phrase will not detrlct
from the aliurements of our fire-sides; felici-
tous epithcts will not be spots on our feasts
of charity or diminish the relish with which,
after the days labor, we seek the society
that makes home home.