St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-04-11
EXPENSIVE ,woRDs.
DON'T Use High-Priced Words When
Cheaper Ones Are BETTER.

! Much that is annoying in this life is
l occasioned by the use of high-priced
word where a cheaper one would do.
! In these days of failure, shortage al
both ends and financial stringencv gen
orally, often wonder that some people
, should go on, day after day, using Just
as extraVagant language as they did
during the flush times. When T get
hard up, the first thing do is to econ
omize IN expressions in everyday con-
yersation. If there is marked strin-
gency IN business, I lay aside my
French, then my Latin, and finally nv
German. Should the times become
greatly depressed and failures and as
signments become frequent, begin to
lop off the large words in my own
language, beginning with ''incompre-
hensibility," unconstitutionality," etc.,
etc.
Julius Cesar's motto used to be:
"Avoid an unusual word as you would
a rock at sea, and julie was right
about it, too. Large and unusual
words, especially in the mouths of TO-
norant people, are worse than Rough
on Rats in a boarding house pie.
Years ago there used to be a pomp-
Gus cuss in Southern Wisconsin, who
was a self-made man. Extremely so.
! Those who used to hear him assert
again and again that he was self-made
man, always felt renewed confidence in
the Creator
He rose one evening in a political
meeting, and swelling out his bosom, as
his eagle eye rested on the chairman, he
said
Mr.. Cheerman! I move you that the
cheer do appoint a committee of three
to attend to the matter under discussion,
and that said committee be clothed by
the cheer with omniscient and omnipo-
tent powers
The motion was duly seconded and
the cheerman said he guessed that it
wouldn't be necessary to put it to
vote.
II guess it will be all right Mr. Pink |
ham. [ guess there'll be no declivity
to it..
And SO the committee was appointed
and clothed with omniscient and ON
nipotent powers, there being no decliY-
ity to it.
We had self-made lawyer at one
time in the northern part of the State
who would rather find a seyenty-fiye
cent word and use it in speech where
1t did not belong than TO eat a good
square meal. He was more fatal to the
Kings English than O'Dynamite Rosa.
One day he was telling how methodical
one of the county officials was.
IS i L
do so much and do it so easy. But the
secret of it is plain enough. You see
he has a regular rotunda of business
every day
If he meant anything, suppose he
meant a routine of business, but a man
would have to be mind reader to fol-
low him some days when he had about
SIX fingers of cough medicine aboard
and began to paw around in the dark
and musty garrett of his memory for
noth-eaten words that didn't mean
anything.
A neighbor of mine went to Washing
on during the Guiteau trial and has /
'een telling us about it ever since. He is
me of those people who don't want to
'e close and stingy about what they 5
NOW. He likes to go through life S
heddlng information right and left. He /
lkes to get crowd around him and
hen tell how he was in Washington at
be time of the ''post mortise examine !
ion.'' = =
''Boys, you may talk as you're a :
1lnd to, but the greatest thing / saw in !
Washington, said he, was DR.. Mary il
Walker on the street every morning b
ding one of these philosophers. n
He painted the top of his fence green, =
ast year, SO it would ''kind of combi-
ate with his blinds''
II he would make his big words "com- -
mate" with what he means little = =
etter, he would not attract so much at - -
'ntion. But he don't care. He hates -
see big, fat word loafing around =
18th nothing to do, so he Just throws :,
ne in occasionally for exercise, I guess. q
In the Minnesota Legislature, in 1867, =
ley had under discussion a bill to in Ga
ease the per diem of members from a
rec dollars to five dollars. A member
the lower House. who voted for the D.
easure, was hauled over the Goals by M
le of his constituents and charged 81
it'll corruption in no unmeasured y
rms. To all this the legislator calmly @
severed that when he got down to the in
pital and found out the awful price NJ
board, he concluded that his 1'sper W
adem" ought to be increased, and so 70
supported the measure. Then the A.
constituent said: L
Il beg your pardon and acquit you Of "
charges of corruption, for legis- st
or who does not know the difference Sc
tween crown of glory and the price Iv'
a days work is too big a blankety- III
mixed fool, to be convicted of an in 10