The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1876-03-23
Large words.

Now large words are well enough
in q dictionary but the simplest
language is the best. Pure, concise,
unadulterated English, for US plain
Americans, Is better than bad French
and garbled Latin and as for the big
words, the fewer OF them we indulge
in, the more Ineligible We shall be
to ourselves and to everybody else.
Young people are, perhaps, more
likely to fall into the habit OF using
large words to express simple things,
than We Of ripper years. There Is
always q charm for the young in
novelty, and some of the recently
coined words are certainly novelties.
To ali our young friends we would
say, In all kindness: Let your lam
guage be simple and to the point.
Avoid verbiage and repetition. II
you use 8 word of four or more sylla-
0les, be sure you know its exact mean
ing before you meddle with 1t, and
then be sure that you uss it in the
right place.
Doubtless you have all heard the
aneedote of the man who could not
write, and who wanted n letter writ
ten to his sweetheart. When the
person employed by him to indite the
tender missive inquired what he
wished written, he replied that it was
not of so much consequence what
was written, so long as there were
some nice-sOunding words put in.
And he suggested the word "congre-
CATION" as being about the biggest
sounding word he knew of, though he
didn't exactly know just how it was
to be got in.
This tendency toward the use of
large words seems to US increasing
Frem the preacher in the pulpit, the
lawyer at the bar, the statesman in
the public forum at Washington,
down to the boOtblaek who pOlishes
your boots, and the barber who recon-
mends his Patent Excelsior Capillary
RenovatOr we, as a people, rejoice in
the use OF large words.
Inventors adopt them, and We are
urged to buy plows and horse-rakes,
and ehurns, and washing machines,
with long strings OF unpronOunceable
names.
The soap with which we wash our
hands is labeled Enreka Incompatible
Detergent.
Our teas and cOffses are ffiieted
with such an array Of complimentary
titles that it is difiicu!t to distinguish
the genuine thing, eve7 after it Is
brought smoking hot to our breakfast
table.
Our wearing apparel has not
escaped. Our boots and shoes are sold
to US under French names, which is
very appropriate, for We observe they
usually take French leave.
Ever our flower seeds have to suf-
fer, and pink seed Is sold to us under
the jaw-breaking title of Dianthus
hybrldus atrOpurpureus and our old
fashioned snap-drsgon Is metamor-
phosed into Antirrhinum caryODhil-
ioides. Bachelors button has been
cultivated in every country garden
since the flood, but who among our
grandmOthers would have JeeogDiz ID
its familiar presencs IL it had been Of
fered to them under the name Of Gen.
taurea Cyanus ?
But fashion is supreme, AMI who
shall gaiusay its power
Iisrge words to express very little
things are the order Of the day, and
we must submit
Nevertheless we ent sr our protest.
feeble though it be-which is all we
can do. And when we meet the man
Of large words in society We always
try to avoid him and IL We have
enemies, and we trust we have, our
worst wish upon them is that they
may be compelled to pass their lives
with some one who has 10 ale the use
of large words study and 8 dailv
practice.-Kdte Thorn, in ~ y
Weekly.