The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1882-01-21
The Verbalist-

The verbalist-
The Home Journal says: OF the many goo
things contained in the "Verbalist, wor
by Alfred Ayres, we select the followin
items:
CONTINUE oN.-The on in this phrase
generally superhuous. ave continued OF
our way" is idiomatic English, and is NOR
euphonious than the sentence would be with
out the particle. The meaning is, NV
continued to travel on our way" In sucl
sentences however, as Continue on" H,
| continued to read on, =" ''The fever continued
on for some bours," and the like the OF
| generally serves to no purpose.
CoNvERsATIoNIsT This word is to b,
preferred to conversationalist.
CoRPoREAL - CoRPoRAL.- These adjec
tives, though regarded as synonyms, are no
used Unfortunately. Corporal is used in
reference to the body, or animal frame in it,
proper sense; corporeal, to the animal sub
stance in an extended sense-opposed tc
spiritual. Corporal punishment; corporal
or material form or substance.
THAT to corporal substance could add
Speed most spiritual. Milton.
"What seemed corporal
Melted as breadth into the wind. "-Shakspeare
CULTURED-This word is said to be a
product of Boston-an excellent place
for anybody or anything to come
from. Many persons object to its use on
the ground that there can be no such parti-
cipial adjective, because there is no verb in
use from which to form it. We have in
use the substantive culture, but though the
dictionaries recognize the verb to culture,
we do not use it. Be this objection valid or
be it not, cultured having but two syllables
while its synonym, cultivated, has four, it is
likely to find favor with those who employ
short words whon they convey their mean
ing as well as long ones. Other ads ctives
of this kind are, moneyed, whiskered, slip
pered, lettered, talented, cottaged, lilied,
anguished, gifted, and so forth.
DEAREsT.-"A gentleman once began a
letter to his bride thus: My dearest Maria.
The lady replied: My dear John, beg that
you will mend either your morals or your
grammar. You call me your dearest
Maria" am to understand that you have
other Mariss p"-Moon's "Bad English"
DIE wITH-Man and brute die of, and
not with, fevers, consumption, the plague,
pneumonia, old age, and SO forth.
DoCK-WHARF.-The first of these
words is often improperly used for the Sec
ond. OF docks there are several kinds; a
naval dock is place for the keeping of
naval stores, timber and materials for ship
building; dry dock is place where YES
sells are drawn out OF the waters for repairs
wet dock is where vessels are kept afoat
at certain level while they are loaded and
unloaded; sectional dock is continuance
for raising vessels out of the water on a
series of air-tight boxes. A dock, then, is a
place into which things are received; hence,
a man might fall into a dock, but could no
more fall off a dock than he could fall off q
hole. A wharf is a sort of quay built by the
side of the water. A similar structure
built at right angle with the shore is gen.
orally called pier. Vessels lie at wharves
and piers not at docks.
ENJOY BAD HEALTH.-As no one has ever
been known to enjov bad health, it is bet, er
to employ some other form of expression
than this. Say. for example, he is in feeble
or delicate, health.
FEMALE.-The terms male and female
are not unfrequently used where good taste
would suggest some other word. For ex-
ample, we see over the doors of school
houses, Entrance for males,' Entrance
for females" Now, bucks and bulls are
males as we'll as boys and men, and cows and
sows are fema as well as girls and women.
GENTLEMAN-Few things are in worse
taste than to use the term gentleman,
whether in the singular or plural, to desig.
nate the sex. eff 1 was a gentleman" says
Miss Shocks. Gentlemen have just as much
curiosity as ladies'" says Mrs. Jenkins
ssGentlemen have so much more liberty
than ladies have" says Mrs. Parvenue. Now
ifthese ladies were ladies they would in each
Of these cases use the word man instead of
gentleman, and woman instead of lady;
further, Miss Shocks would say, aft were"
Well-bred men, men of culture and refine
ment-gentlemen in short-use the terms
lady and gentle comparatively little, and
they are especially careful not to call them
selves gentlemen when they can avoid it.
JEoPARDIzE-This is a modern word
which we could easily do without, as it
means neither more nor less than its vener-
able progenitor to leopard. which is greatly
preferred by all careful writers.
LADY.-To use the term lady, whether in
the singular or plural, simply to designate
the sex, is in the worst possible taste. There
is kind of pin-feasher gentility which
have settled aversion to using the term
man and woman. Gentleman and ladies' es-
tablish their claims to being called such; by
by their bearing, and not by arrogating to
themselves. even Indirectly, the titles. In
England, the title lady is properly correla-
tive to lord but there, as in tnis country. it
is used as q term of complaisance, and is ap-
propristely applied to women whose lives
are exemplary, and who have received that
school and home education which enables
them to appear to advantage in the better
circles of society. Such expressions as 'She
is fine lady, a clever lady, we'll dressed
lady, good lady, a modest lady, chart
table lady, an amiable lady, handsome
lady, q fascinating lady," and the like, are
studiously avoided by persons of refinement
Ladies say, 1--WE women, the women OF
America, women's apparel" and 30 on;
vulgar women talk about "us ladies', the la.
dies of America, ladies' apparel" and so on
! If woman of culture aud refinement-in
short, lady-is compelled from any cause
soever to work in store, che is quite con
tent to be called sales woman; not SO, bow
ever, with your young woman who, being il
a store. is in .. better position than ever be
fore. She, Heaven bless herl boils with in
dignation ii she is not denominated sales
lady. Lady is often the proper term to use
and then it would be very imprt per to Us
any other; but it is very certain that til
terms lady and gentleman are least used b,
those persons who are most worthy of beinI