New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-23
JVORDS.s


omamented with large pictorial repre- entauon
Of tlbleau in play now running In one OF
our theatres under which is this legend: >" III
YOU say another word I'll smash your ID
head" We print it exactly as it appears, Tor
the reason that it illustrates the queer notions
that prevail in the minds of most men about the
Use. the force and the actual significance OF
words. and the difference between the spoken
and the printed word The first thing that Oc-
ours to the social philosopher on reading this
legend IS that the theatre managers intended to
pay respectful Difference &c the publlc's sehse u
propriety when they suppressed the four inter-
yening letters between the two DIS and sup
plied the omission with the suggestive and per-
fectly well-understood DASH But then there
arises the thought that as matter OF fact in
the play and on the stage the actor pays no such
Difference to the sensitiveness of the audience
He saws damned" unquestionably, and says 1t
roundly; says it because it is thought 10 add
emphasis and heighten the effect. He might
say "dashed,n or "blanked," to be sure, but
that would be such ridiculous avoidance as to
be simply silly.
But why is the printed word more offensive
than the spoken one? Why suppress on the
billboard what is spoken out loud and plain to
the audience? The word in and OF itself Is
nothing. 1t is not nOw-however it may have
been in the past-cOnsidered particularly
wicked word" The number OF people who
| believe il to be a sin to use it Is very small.
Whatever Of sin there is in its use Is In the
temper of mind which it expresses, not in the
word itself. 1t will be generally admitted that
it is coarse and offensive; is not the language
of the drawing room or in the vocabulary OF
gentlemen. Free use OF it in conversation is
the mark, not so much of bad as Of vulgar
and ill-bred man, as, indeed, Is the habltual Use
of ANYTHING in the nature of what we call pro-
fame language. Why is it, then, that under
certain conditions, as, for instance perhaps those
in the play, this word damned'' is recognized
| as giving emphasis and effect and as in way
necessary to the movement of the drama, and
at the same time its OffensivenesS IN print is SO
well understood that it has to be yelled with a
dash-print- whispered, as it we've?
No doubt we often mistake words for things
and give them more significance than actually
belongs 10 them. Then, too, the place and the
manner in which they are used make world
Of difference. Garrick said that Whitfield could
move an audience to tears by bis manner OF
saving Alesopotamia." This little bad word
DAMN" which in its common use Is so mean
ingess as well as vulgar, can never force its
way into polite society or the vocabulary Of the
ladies. The use of it even occasionally puts
something OF strain upon the character and
standing of the user. But whyP Not because
of anything offensive in the four letters that COM
pose it, but doubtless because it stands for pas
sion, for anger, for that unreasOnng state OF
mind which accompanies loss of temper. That
is, in the last analysis, the shock it gives re-
fined mind comes from the simple feeling that
il represents mental state not in keeping with
| the surroundings or consistent with gentlemen
of breeding Not because of any intrinsic bad
ness in itself, but because it stands for bad
passion, is the little word under the ban. And
lust here is where the social instinct is at one
with the higher law of human brotherhood
enunciated by the First True Gentleman"