The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-06-09
WORDS AID THEIR uSeS.


iDg t-uii'i'-t 81 v iti''--
O,r ,.uoior. T. ovcrhu.icnrd and
overri,ldcii by a hordDc Il wnr bless tramps
and loafers Of words a.n! phases WINCH
are continually o1;Tud.ng iAtIrtNe' d"
your notice and Dropping la'le "''hou'
| invitation. into your lri-ef. ~ III ~
.pluyial 1ispensation" for rain, "Lc'eai
Guid" Tor milk. "laclryrai COWS iof
tears. entering into matrIinai.."i nohds
for getting married. 'shDhi'nS Oh tliis
mortal COLI for PLAIN. sunpl" dyihg,
"saccharinc taste for Il sweet 'ast'. 'i'iln
confederation for rel iiani'., ''he oip
OF dav" for the SAL. tho - 'ffc.'iI'u
globe for the earth. "caloric Tor neat
..piscatorial sport Tor fishing. 'Pedes.
trjanisnl" for walking. "iAhial osculation'
fol plain kissing, the the hel" mat
cheers but not intoxicaic~ Tor tea
pedal cxtremities' for feet and "hirsute
appcndagc" for hair.
These verbal tramps and illers are con
tinuallv increasing. If the unabridged
dictionary goes on swelling at the present
rate il will contain fifty years hence,
one.thrd more words than people who
have something else to DO besides recol-
lect them can afford 10 try to remember.
You have observed that when man
is in dead earnest ard has really Got
something to tell he uses tie ieWest pos
sible words. If his house j. on ire he
sings out "Firel' and nothing cl.c. lie
docs not call out: MY domiCile Is now
undergoing the process Of combustion
md is in great danger Of destruction
from the deyounng element no; he
leaves that erudile sentence icr the gram
mar bred. unabridged dictionary fed.
classically educated word pier who
spent four years at college IN learning
| how thus 10 give the news Of a Ire.
But the creates, difficulty in writing Is
| to avoid saving the same thing over ana
over and to stop when You have really
| finished. You may have cbcr'cd the
same habit when n lot Of male - female
cossips are cackling together They
| don't say so much as they say the same
| thing over and over It's the "cut-cut-
ca-da.cutm of the hen after she's accom-
plishci successful egg laying. The
more tired a mans brain gets the greater
becomes the ''cut-cut- ca-da-cut' pro-
pensitv. It's this which spins out and
tl:ns ont long articles. long sermons and
| long speeches. As an editor under whom
| | once served used 10 remark: 'lhe man
| hadn't lime TO write short one. Inc
word and idea condenser Will say: John
Smith killed himself with pistol the
non-coudenser and word pller Will write:
| John Smith. that ubiquitous individual
| Iiokcl. committed the rash act Of suicide,
| blowing his brains out 10y puttinga bullet
! through his head from a six chamOcred
navy revolver" As regards John smith
the general public don't care where the
| bullet went in or where it came out, or
what kind of pistol did IT. or how many
| chambers it had; and rs for blowing his
brains out, not one successful suicide out
| of one hundred manages TO drive his en-
| tire cerebeIltn out of his skull by a SIN
gle bullet.
Most of these words are the invention
Of pedants who had more book III their
heads than brains, and who would call
/ kitten a Juvenile feline To show OF
what they supposed TO be learning. II
there were six known dead languages IN
steal Of Latin and Gre X, we should
probably have four more words derived
/ from them to apply TO cat and four or
/ five more to everything else that creeps,
clawls. walks. swims or flies. If things
20 on al this rate it will be cheaper by
/ and by not to learn To write or even talk.
! You don't want more than one pitch
| fork in your barn at a time. do youi sup
posing. now, YOU went iii some day and
/ found the stable crammed with pitch
/ forks the mangor with cUrrycomb5 and
/ the hav loft with hay ralse,. How much
room would there be for the horses, car
riage. harness and haY: Now, as one. or
at the most two. pitchforks are better for
| che barn. 20. in the language, Is one word
for one thing.
Long. far fetched and little used words
generally come of the writer laZlnesS.
Because lie happens to understand Its
meaning he takes it for granted that
| every one else does. One-third OF your
readers at least bring up all standing
against a word or a phrase YOU We Dor
rOwoI from doctors talk, or chemists
talk. ar scientific talk of some kind. II
carries nothing to their minds. and,
Therefore, your writing doesn't interest
them. But this is Of no consequence If
you are writing chiefly to amuse your
self
A-quotation, say from Shakespeare or
Byron, was a clever thing for the man
who first launched it. But 1t isn't at all
clever for YOU To borrow. use and laun,h
i. IN your writing, and if YOU do its be-
cAuse your brain isn't fertile enough to
give your own picture i'll your own words
to your readers of what you want to rep
resent You are then only painter,
always copying other painters pictures.
New York Star.
Power of Flesh Eating Nations.
II a. poto,ious fhat uash eating nations