Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-12-24
AUSTIN. MOWER COUNTY. MINNESOI
BAD GBAMmA1I.

UN MOef u ON tic etreet4, on the cars,
ln bus!ness Offices, II schools and COL
legs, ip private circles. and sometimes
in pufplls and from platforms. The ig.
n0lert md the Wise, the untutored and
th6schl lar, J are al more or less guilty
Even when We know what Is correct In
expfessfon we are offen betrayed, by hab-
Il or association or intimation, into some
violation Of the kings English. But as
life e ssperpetual warefare against vice
and dirt and want, go It must be that We
shall, while we live, have to fight against
these same elements in another form in
Our1anguage. Writers and public speak
ers understand this perfectly we'll, and
keep .toning themselves up'' by constant
and Increasing acquaintance with the
works Of the great thinkers and writer's
ot the past and present, cnriching their
vocabulary, refining their expressions,
and selecting with increasing care the
language In which their thoughts shall
be embodied. But the majority Of edu.
Gated people consider the work. Of learn
ing to talk complete when they leave
school, and careless about wedding out
any lmperfeotions that may still exist in
their lse Of the mother tongue, they al
low others to creep in until ''the whole
lumpsts leavened. !" >.Sz 49,. .
i It issnot possible for us all to be phi.
lol"gists and choose ourwords with care.
full reference to their etymelegy and &C:
.cUmmodated, meanings, hut there are
few Of Us who may not, by moderate care
and painstaking, bring our language
nearer the standard of grammatical puri-
ty. It is quite interesting to sit and lis
ten to the con versatiOn of students, and
note the ease and abandon with which
they violate the very rules of syntax they
have just recited, and often in the pres
ence Of their parents, who either do not
notice, or fail to correct the most glaring
solecisms. The following exprt ssions in
daily use among people who think they
are we'll educated may perhaps call at
tention to this subject more efficiently
than theorizing and philosophizing upon
it will do. They have been gathered
within the last few weeks, and are the
most frequent violations. in common par
lance, of correct grammer: 1T amt"
for 1t isn't" Amt is + contraction of
ami not; lit am not" is evidently erro-
neous. "Has the cows been fed ?" II
laid in three ton of hays" ''hc walked
twenty miles" 'oats is best for horse. :"
these violate the rule that verbs and
n0minatives must agree III number and
person.
The use Of two negatives in the same
sentence is very common. ''They don't
want no more" II don't know nothing
about it," :'they haven't got no money :"
"aIy" and: anything instead of "no''
would make these sentences grammatl
cal.
Adverbs and adjectives are often. used
amiss. No error of this sort is more
common than the use OF the adjective
good" for the verb "well." us my hair
c0mbed good? Il can see very good. -
Verbs are frequently Incorrectly formed
in their past lenses, and the participle
used where the past tense would be prop.
er. "He was drowned" II throwed il
to him." "they done it," i've seen
it," these expressions one can hear any
day.
The addition of an unnecessary prep.
ositi0a is very common error. 1.-THE
way is opened up:"' why not opened
down? 1--WE continued on" "where is
lie at?''
These and them are often used instead
of these and those. "These kind" OF
"thcm kind of things" "thein children >
Other improper uses Of pronouns arr
found in "her and me went to school, y
| lit is him." "that's me-"
1t is possible in brief article likeIthis
to enumerate only the most common
and glaring errors in everyday conversa-
ton, but it is hoped that when once at
tention is drawn to these, the effort tc
correct them will lead to the discovery
and correction of other incongruities il
language, aud thereby to habitual cor
rectness Of speech.
Children just as naturally pick up bat
language as they get their faces dirt,
and their clothes sOiled, and as we wash
both their faces and their clothes, so We
need to be perpetually purifying, rein
ing, correcting their language and ou1
own as we'll, for we, too, arc but childrer
of larger growth, prone to slip back
into easy ,carless, iEcorrectmodes Utspcecl
Cicero says that those who attained tn.
greatest distinction in his day for purity
and elegance ofdiction, learned to speak
their native tongue from their mothers
who carefully instructed them to avoid
the errors of the vulgar, SO that wl.er
they became orators and writer's they
had nothing to unlearn.
The ehastly rents displayed by the con
versation of many bciewelcd and fash
ionably dressed woman would appal hcl
if they betrayed the same poverty in he,
apparel that to q discerning mind ap.
pears in her education; the polish o
fine French calf, the luster Of spotless
broadclotl, or the gloss Of snowy linen
but feebly atone for illselected' words
ungrammatical phrases, and blunderine
syntax. This outer wear, milliners and
tailnrs and shocmakers and laundry
maids can be held accountable for; bu
pure, faultless, polished, elegant dictior
is u possession no prince can inherit, NJ
millionaire can buy, and yet it is within
the reach Of every earnest, patient, pains
taking lover of his native tongue.-N. Y
Tribune.