New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-29

| and us | could see mo difference of Language, no
difference of dialect but that there was IN
able difference of local usage NOW iOca us , -,
matter OF speech whether he OF ola stanun ~ VI
of quite modern origin is altogether another tnlilg
from real difference of dialect. Real diherShco ~
| dialect is matter which lies pretty much beyond
| The control of the human Will ~ Is olteh unool-
scious II is almost always lhvoLun'iit} aos n5
| which does not lie the surface, but whch neeos
| TO be found out by pathological research. but mere
local usage though 1t may nave become d,'oo i,,-
| memorial is not thus wholly beyond our own con-
trcl There is something conscious about u, some
! thing at any rate which can be changed by an I'M
| mediate act of the will. For mere difference OF
local usage in language, We can oiteh FINo sUI
very obvious reason, which needs no phlioloHlCa!t
research at all to find 1t out For hstacT via via
| we NAV call the language OF railways IS laiReN
! different in England and in America bul tu USE -
no difference of dialect. only difference Oh ioua,
| usage. In each case particular worn I 10 I'll
chosen rather than another. In each case the WIZ
which has been chosen sounds Qua 10 .nuso oao
! are used 10 the other In each case we gan s rJ
times SIRE the reason for the difference ol usiBe ahH
! sometimes not. No obvious reason can u, CIV
why in England we speak of the TalIhoy'. VIII
p,+ no ono nm either side can have the least DIM
| Guilty in understanding the WOfa "nIch - ~ 20.
the other side And indecd'the Aincf'in ftc%s
| that in this rs some greater ana 9i'tI III
! he has stuck to the older usage. hohsh Idll
| ROAD is now seldom used IN England my own
! memory tells me that it was the more uSaal naihe
| when the thing itself first came IN. kallVaH I1rr
| what reason | know nor has dlsplaceu iLl-i"U'
| i'm England, and it's worth reuarhhg lDat ~ -
one can sec no reason for Quo usage rather hah tne
other and no n Vantage IN one ula&e rathcI IMAM
The other. Bat when the Amrrigtn Zoos on 10
sneak rs be often does. OF the rdllOld Simply IS
tho road, his language NAY sometimes ne ilttlo
misleading. but II is easy 10 see me reason Ior IT.
i'm ENGLAND we had everywhere roads leloIc We nad
lailroalS; the railroad needed qualifying syllable
10 distinguish If from tae Older ana hCticF Known
kind of road But ia a large part OF AwcIca the
railroad is actually the oldest road; There is there
fore such need to distinguish IT from any other
This TO rs Gems rather like % state OF things IN
which printing shOpld be familiar, hut wiring nm
known; bat II ISL state of tulnSs "Hch the CIR
cumStances of time have brought about ln d
large part of the United states. Inat IS 10 say me
two Tendencies of which spoke nave been an Moik
side hv side. The tendency to lag behind has nm
dered the growth of good system oi ro"HS; me
tendency TO 90 ahead has brought in gigantic
systcm Of railroads Hero SEQ the reason for the
different use of language. We see It ALSO I'D lne
d lcrent names for the thing winch Wnch t!r
rah Dad il made. Tuus along ITS rails. IN imam II
| Is a carriage -; in America II lsa" car MS "l
! least is bV no means distinction without
! reason. The different forms OF English railway
| carriage might afford some cur luS matters LOT
| obserS alton 10 a UhIluS0phrr of The schru al NJ
! VVl0r. Nowhere the doctrine OF sGrFiNdi' no
| batter studied The ORIGINAL raiiv1 y-carrIge was
| the old-tas hIuned carriage PINT To q new use the
innovation Jay in putting several al'h carnage 10
! gether. It is only qnlte gradually that what we
| may call picture Of the old carriage mas H',lp-
/ reared from our trains This IS ~ distinct sur
vIval as the useless buttons on modern coat "Hlch
! once fastened upa lappet, hepeI 10 carry "rd
! or discharged some other usclul iihcl'l low Ioi-
| gotten. But the American car was no, H''.'
| after any such pattern. 10 was Strictly car
nj any rate il is quite uullU tine special meaning
! attached to the word "caruaEe. Ii anything
other than itself was present to ihe nina oil ne
deyis,r of the American ear. 1t was rather ihe ca9
! of "A steamer than any earlier KIND oil c'tllaSc ""u
| such an origin is suggested by the american pArhSe
! OF being on board tTlu which fancy Is never
! heard IN England. Among European tMnssi me
older kind of Amrilcon car is most Ike lhAt Nhlch
i, used on the Sw riil ways. as II tEer' were some
| kind of federal symbolism IN both. Ana no" an
Of hef form of the American cor Is milking lis way
| inf,
too. For car then there IS good reaS u; mt u
is hard to see why 4. ralWay, SdayloH s'doulu 90
etymologcallv English; il is therefore not SO good
q ua,ue rs the German bdhDhgE hut II - quite
naturaliZed and familiar, while "def0t Is SIM
fOreinn. and hardly Gecomcs les. so 9y u9hs
sodndeu if it were italian aud written apo But
ON several American railroads the name IS begin
ning to gave way to the more reasonable word
" station.
SHOP OR STORE.
All these instances taken from railway matters
are necessarily very modern ! will take auolher
which | liza, e no doubt is as old rs English settle.
| mcnt in America. In England we dre the VOID
shop" both for place whore things are made
or done and for place where things are sold. In
America the word is cunif ed to the place where
THINGS are made Or done, as "harber-shop." car
nentcr- shop" 4 place where thing. are cold is
store" Less old most likely, hut certainly not of
Yesterday s the usage which conun" the name
corn 10 particular kind OF corn thar. namely
which we know " Indian corn or maze.
heard most distinguished En9lis hman-Britlsh, at
al eveuts--lecture TO an American audiences on the
history OF the EOglish corn-2wS; ana doubted IN
NV own mind whether all his hearer would under
stand that he was mainly speaking % wheat. Now
! neither of these forms of speech comes among he
cases in which the colony has kept on the elder
| usage e the moi her country. This hardly needs
proof i'm the case OF corn" But the narrower use
Of that word is exactly analogous 90 the mario "er
| use of the word beast" among English gTaIcfs
| aud Of the word bird among English spOrtsmcn
In the case Of shop" the word Is perfectly good
! English both in the wider and in the narrower
sense. it is in good many other senses besides
! Bat ] cannot find that " store" ever used in
| England in the American sense TIL 1t came IN
! Gulte lately in the case OF cooperative stores
But nave not the slightest doubt that aT.ectly
| cool reason for the difference OF usage could ne
! found m some circumstance of early colonial lie
| I can fancy that in one of the first New England
| settlements n shop would really be store, III
in which it hardly Is now on either side oil tac
| ocean. And the cooperative store may be 80
| called for reason of the same kind or 1t may
| be because the name is thought 70 be liner or 1t
may 6ea mere transplantation of the American
| name. The shop or the store suggests ITS
| cOutents and | dare say that there IL good
reason. though DO not see IT. WHY the contents OF
one particular klnd OF store should he specially
| called "drv goods.' The contents of sjrue other
| kinds of store TO the untechnical mind to he
| equally dry. But the phrase, however 1t arose, Is
| lust like our phrase hardware winch does not
take in all things that are in themsel yes hard.
| Then again. have known some foolish BrltIshers
| but these perfectly good ard natural names for
things to which we have nothing exactly answering
| in modern England. The constant use of the phrase
block" in showing Imam his way abont town,
struck ut first odd But 1t is perfectly good
use. American towns are built in blocks. in a way
| in which the elder English towns al least not.
The city lot" suggests the city " itself OF which
we certainly hear much more in America than in
| England. The use of the word "city" III England
| is rather strange. At some time later than D0me,
| day and earlier than Henry the Eighth II came to
be contD cd on one hand and extended on the other
so as 10 take all places that were bishops secs.
and no places that were not In America "A city
| means what we should call a corporate town or
Inunicpal bOrOugh. But IN England the word
city" is seldom used, except either III rather
formal speech or else To distinguish the real city
of London from the other parts of the province
GOV cred with houses which in common speech
bears It's name In America the word city " Is in
constant use where we .hould use the word town,