The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-05-11

n Hsvsn>ns - n<lssu - cra1L
80 Csarse Exps<assa.
A party of refined. educated peop1
Who iiIled = country house last sum
ner formed themselves by commo
consent into -Ssriesy for the sup
preston Of slang The fines i'm
po~~d-crse penny fur each and ever.
infringement d the rule prvshfhsfini
the u~e of slang words OF phrsse<-
uere drupfri inso . forrixn mission
AIRY box belonging to . member. Nu~i
fun and more serious reflection en-
sued upon the workings II the rspnsti-
tufisss and byIaxs- The most careful
speakers xer e~snfoundesf ~ finding
themselves convicted n ran>xres~ors
while college boys and xrAsusfe riri-
declared that bankruptcy stared them
In the face before the Close Of the sea.
sofs. One merry youth. Who ran up
from the city on Saturday afternoons
to syend Sundays in the mountain re-
treat. habitnaiiy rendered = quarter OF
a dollar 10 the treasurer on aiixhfinz
irons a carriage that hal nsct him AZ
the station. with the request that he
might "f< notified when the amount
wR used up
Paserfamifia vas travelling abroad
when the ~ocify was formed. and wrote
home this dryiy significant comment:
With regard TO the =. :. -, / have
only ;e remark that the conversion of
the world - ROW = c qiesficTi of
tinset"
The result of the establishment Of
similar organizations in other families
and communities, with rigid enforce
menf OF penalties. would asfound
members and lockers ON.
The uugrammatical construction OF 4
sentence i a fault of the one who
composes IL. Slang Is linguai vice.
C0iieglan- OF both sexes. who are
among the ehiefest sinners in this
matter, pailiaie il To their conscierlces
by pleading that they find nothing I'm
soser. every day phrase 80 raey and
apt a- the catch words that run like
Wild fra or scarlet fever from hand to
hand, from town to town all over the
country. Some originate i'm camie
stories or pointed anecdotes which
please the popular fancy; others in
witless sayings that would seem TO inn
partial listeners TO have no germinat-
ing power. yet are a. prolific as wire
grass and parsley in the great common
OF the peoples yernacular. We NAV
borrow, in describing the majority OF
these parasites from the negro preach
er's ~delineation of MeIchizesIek:
Without father. without mother,
without no decent behavior at all
They come and go as fit and rise and |
sink the Iaralet exhalation Of a swamp.
Those of this day viii be ineornprc-
hensible to the generation following. |
W. would need 4 glossary were those |
Of onr forefathers set before us in |
print.
Forty years ago ! saw a young girl
cover herself with confusion as with a
garment BY "A careless reply TO her es-
cort on an evening walk, who asked If
she were going to year rublers.
Il am not going to wear anything
else" fell gayfy from her lips.
Had she been asked ii she felt
ashamed Of the lnckiess saving, the
chances are she would have said
We'll | dor'-another slang saying
then In vogue.
These expressions, with 1T does not
matter 10. H." and the half dozen
sthers that were banded into shreds
nd dropped for newer ai,surdities.
ere foolish in inception and use. but
w and unobjectionable by cofnpar-
bn with those that come in upon Us
IL a muddy food with each year.
Tr French mot d'enigne may be wit
tytnd serve a good turn to the speak
er each household has what the same
corenient tongue styles mot de fam
illeiorn of jest and incident, digni-
fiedTofnetinies by usage and years in
fo addition, and cndued with a pa
tibet. value not their own. They are
treasured and bequeathed with the
hatte-d nursery furniture We have not
h hart TO send off to the auction
room Popular slang. caught by Our
tiiri trn schoolmates and brothers. is
silly. slvenly and often vulgar. In its
effect uon home and society CONVEX
sation j. peruieious TO IA degree we
cannot eerestiniate.
Iiistend the other day. with mingled
pain an'tiiSgust. to the talk of a rich
lawyer, tirty-iise years old, who was
noted in ollege for his proficiency in
slang. Ga the present occasion he
desired. | new, 70 appear well TO the
associates Z the hour. some of whom
we're distinguished in art, literature
and science To an elegant woman,
who in9uird il he had enjoyed his
winter In Rene. he replied. well, !
should relaxsiy~ featurest' To another
who asked nae were an admirer of
Chopin. he drwled; We'll, I guess"
lie told a tviewer that Matthew
Arnold WORKED his muse for all it was
worth sfo& phrase he repeated
four times IN ~ sentences, notably in
commenting upn Professor Corson's
lectures ON Bnwning. He thoaght
iio~elis rather fresh" and James
decidedly NY, W. know" The whole
Kit ant booZle IF the literary coeka-
lorams were too much given to tooting
their osn horns b suit him. Even
Stevenson wouid'e the better If he
we're taken down apeg."
This detestihle hess il more intelli-
gible than the taik of two collegians
across the table Of \ country hotel, In
Which one requesteelthe other to"ru<h
he bovine" when h. wanted the milk
pitcher, 10 Jerk the tinker for the
absent waitress. and asked il he hal
''tiou>est the giim' hcore leaving their
bedroom. Both allu,ed To the well
cooked and well serveameal as.'grub."
Our gtri may not sescend Ia such
shiny deeps of hnguai iuiquity ~ the
foregoing. but she i itgenious In the
invention OF a patois OF her own, and
quick ,e adopt what striseS her fancy
IN her brothers dialect She is moi,
alcse calling Schumarn perfectly
mag. and Turner " just too, too. ut
terly q 81 YOU know 'asimonishes
her teasing mate to "cun. of the
roof ''ehcsnH,st {" cries alta twice told
tales. and takes the current ~i,anitv for
all she's worth intofull favsr. even
overheard ole. not a week aho. remark
faceflotisly to a girl friend You may
wager Your sarharine vitality ON such
and such II point, and say toa visitor
~tnasculinel. that he "haa tilechceS OK
q hrass-facei monkey"