, 1876-09-15
Common Mistakes in Talking.

There are careless people, "those who
know the right, and yet the wrong pur-
sue" They plunge recklessly on with
out thought for the words they use;
their sentences abound with exclama-
tions and expletives more expressive
than choice. Their slang phrases are
an ofense to cultivated ears, and they
exhaust their superlatives of the Ian
guage on the most ordinary occasions.
1t is they who preface every sentence,
even on trivial topics, with MY starsr
''By George~ "By Jupiterr' ezra
ciousp' Thunder "You bet" "No
you don'tw "Wellw "And AM" are as
thickly strewn as leaves in Vallambrosa.
With them a funeral is ''jolly, prayer
meeting funny" an ordinary perform
ance is "frst-rate, the lowest round on
the ladder of beauty is real pretty" and
their indiscriminate admiration is ex-
pressed by the much abused epithets,
splendid, beautiful, magnificent, su-
perb, bawitching, fascinating, charming,
delicious, exquisite" etc. Any viola
ton of law belonging to their code is
''shameful;" a refusal to conform to
their wishes is "horrid mean;" a COM
mon cold is 'terrible;" and headache
is "beyond endurance They are al
ways frozen" " roasted" or "melted; :"
their friends are beautifed with every
virtue, and their enemies are the off
scourings of the race. They so COM
pletely exhaust the language or COM
mon occasions, that no words are left to
give expression to their deeper feelings.
Another class inclades those who vio-
late the laws of etymology. They have
been thoroughly trained in the gram
mar of the language, and yet refuse to
be regulated by its precepts. This class
is a large one, and includes among its
audacious sinners:
l. Those who use the objective case
for the nominative one; as, SIT is me, Z"
for 1T is l." ''It is her, for "It is she; !"
''It is u.s." for "It is we."
2. Those who use the nominative case
for the objective; as, Between you and
me, " for Between you and l." "Like
you and me, for Like you and I )" "I
know who you mean," for II know
whom you mean"
3. Those whose subjects and verbs do
not agree in number and person, as,
"Says ], )" for "Say I ;" "You was" for
"You were;" my feet's cold" for "My
feet are cold;" "Theres thirty" for
'There are thirty"
4. Those who use the indicative mood
for the subjunctiye; as, "If 1 was you" I"
for eff were you"
3. Those who use the present tense for
the past; as, "I see you yesterday" for
II saw you yesterday"
q TbOca who ,,ao E1,o ~,
for the transitive; 'If he is mind to, +"
for ''If he has mind to-"
Z. Those who use incorrectly the
much abused verbs sit and lie; as, ''I
am going to lay down, for Il am going
to lie down." II laid down this morn
ing for ''I lay down this morning." "I
shall set here, )" for 81 shall sit here"
8. Those who use the adverb for the
adjective; as, "She looks beautifully, "
for ''She looks beautiful" or its oppo-
site, "She walks graceful" for "She
walks gracefully"
9. Those who use plural adjective
with singular noun; as, "Those kind, "
for "That kind" "Six pair" for "Six
pairs"
10. Those who use the compound rel
oeANO ACA tAO WI uASSAOh1 No.. L w lAOb
know but what I will" for ''I do not
know but that 1 will"
IL. Those who use the objective case
after the conjunction than; as, "He
knows more than me" for 'He knows
more than l."
II. Those who use double negatives;
as, "No you don't neither" for "No
you don't either"
13. Those who use the wrong prepo-
sition; as, Different to-" for "Difer-
ent FROM" "In regard Of" for with
regard to-"
IA. Those who use the superlative de-
gree for the comparative; 8, "The old
est of the two," for "The older of the
two."
A BRAVE SoLDKR.-Out of the many
instances of individual bravery which
must have signalized the struggle for
independence, few have been preserved; /;
but one, that has been, lights up the