The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1875-06-10
Abuse Of Dictionaries,

in hand. And yet teachers tell us that
dictionaries are most grievously abused
in this respect. Many people 60 to
dictionary with an indistinct idea of
what they want and an inadequate
knowledge Of the methods used in trans.
hitting information. They are confused
often, rather than instructed, not because
rules are not clear and information def.
mite, but because they do not familiarizo
themselves with rules and methods; do
not become acquainted, so to speak, and
lose the advantage of their investigation.
A curious result Of this confused sense Of
not being able to comprehend is that the
seeker after knowledge becomes resentful
and stubborn, interprets for himself, and
assumes that he has the best authority for
his Interpretation in any given case. He
uses the dictionary to give responsibility
to decision that is at variance with the
truth. He builds on vague impression,
on fact misconstrued, and does more in
jury than he would do if wholly unin-
formed.
A man once committed to an assertion
OF this kind becomes an influential agent
In disseminating wrong impressions, be.
cause he speaks in the name of unques-
toned authority and people accept his as
sertion as truth. This state Of affairs will
continue so long as people fail to consult
dictionary In the spirit of inquiry-fail
to enter upon the inquiry with due pre-
liminary preparation.
The man who familiarizcs himself with
rules of pronunciation, accent, etc, tells at
q glance whether his use of pronunciation
of a word Is right or wrong. He is clear
as to what is meant in any given case,
whnrooc Othap pnrsOnc not Ion,,,;orr oDpy
preliminary matter worthy of considera-
ton, are not clear as to what is meant, and
their want of clearncss distorts any pro-
nunciation or definition that is transmitted
through their clouded understanding.
A man who returns from q new or dis
tant country is very apt to enlarge upon
facts in regard to that country, and upon
incidents of his tour. He caught but
vague impressions of people and country
and he is scarcely conscious Of unscemly
exaggeration in his reports. He takes
pride in having been there, and although
he may have had unpleasant experiences
he fOrgets these in his desire to enlarge
upon the importance Of the occasion. He
talks with an authoritative air, however,
and brooks no contradiction, because, has
he not just come from the country of which
he speaks? Now, in the same spirit are
incursions often made into dictionaries
and books of reference. In one case
wrong ideas of a country are disseminated
and in the other wrong ideas of disputed
points. In both cases the honesty Of the
party concerned is not to be 50 much ques-
toned as his capacity for receiving in
formation.
Teachers and parents cannot be too care
full in directing children and young per-
sons in the securing of such knowledge.
They are prone to Investigate in the de-
faint and arrogant spirit, whereas the
genuine student is humble and receptive.
And yet mere willingness to receive is
not In itself good quality-is rather an
Objectionable feature If it go no further
than that. There must be willingness
on the part of anyone to prepare himself
for right understanding Of what is Of
fered, and readiness to compare views
with some one Of more thorough knowl-
edge.
Boys often jump to conclusions with a
leap-frog rccklessness and hold fast to
their conclusions with wonderful tenacity.
Fix the pronunciation or meaning of q
word in boys understanding in that
way, and not even Noah Webster himself
could unsettle his convictions on that
point. Let some careless teacher give a
boy notion in regard to the pronuncia-
ton of word and he will give eager bat
tie with every learned doctor in the coun-
ty as to the correctness of his view This
would be laughable did it 20 no further
than boyhood, but wrong taken into
the understanding as right often
remains a fixture there despite
all efforts to remove. How many men
and women use words only in the sense in
which they caught them up in some such
way as above described. How many
adults quote the facts of their child's his
tory against Macaulay and Prescott.
How many boys and young men get their
entire stock of knowledge of one period of
French history from Bulwer's "Richelieu,"
and how many their only idea of the life
and times of Mary Stuart from the drama
of that name. They are content to know
no more, and yet they are unwilling to adj
nit they do not know all about the whole
affair. They get ideas of words in the
same spirit. The writer of this article re-
members we'll a case in point. The
itinerant possessor of magic lantern land
magic lanterns were wonders in those
days. was to exhibit at the village school
house. This exhibitor was, Of course, the
hero of the hour. His mental capacity
and his culture were rated far above that
of the village magnates. After school
hours in the evening he took posses
sion of the school-house to make his
few preparations. A number of chill
dren fingered about, much interested in the
proceedings and much impressed by the
pompous airs of the Snowman. When
preparations were completed he said to his
assistant, in deep, rich tones, Lets re-
turn to the hotel, accenting the first sylla-
BILE, possibly in spirit of fun. But, being
the possessor of a magic lantern, he was
authority, and for weeks and months the
youngsters of that village held stubbornly
to the pronunciation, hotel. The protest
of teachers and parents availed nothing.
This magic lantern man used the word
that way, and he knew.
Again, the human mind is prone to
take advantage Of any interval of time or
distance from any place in making author
itative assertions: A boy corrected in the
pronunciation of word is apt to fall
back on the assertion that old Prof.
Blank, at college, pronounced it that way,
and to stick to it. And a man who has
run through England on the railway cars
will gravely tell you that the people of a
CCiIdlu pldCc AdUltudlly say 81 anu 50.
They assume to speak aulhoritatively,
simply because Of the distance from the
scene of operations. Or in the same spirit
that soldier who runs away from a field
of battle always enlarges more upon its
horrors than the actual participants.
1t is related by one distinguished edu-
Gator that on different occasions, before
Boards of County Examiners, young men
and women, candidates for teachers, de-
fined fragrant as meaning beautiful; YER
dant, as fresh; royal, as delicious, etc.
These people had associated these words
with certain meanings, and 1t seemed that
the same meaning had been received by
several parties. This brings us back to
the original proposition, and again we
say, exercise due care that dictionaries are
used in the right way, and that false ideas
as to words are corrected.-Flreside Friend.
THE following are said to be infallible
signs of married couples: If you see a
lady drop her glove, and a gentleman by
the side of her kindly telling her to nick t.