Evening journal., 1893-02-20
GIRLSWHOUSE SLANG
A CONVERSATION BETWEEN TWO
COLLEGE GRADUATES.

Slang In the Mouths of Men Is Bad Enough,
but When Wen Bred Young Women Are
Addicted 60 the Habit II Becomes Abso-
lutoiy Intolerable.
Dear girls, avoid slang. There are 80
many reasons why You should not use
it, and only one excuse in its favor that
l have ever heard from any reliable au-
thorityl Here it is:
Oliver Wendell Holmes, in one Of his
racy breakfast table talks, says: Don't
think undervalue the proper use and
application of a cant word or phrase. 1t
adds piquancy to conversation as a
mushroom does to n sauce" That this
is the idea most young people have
when they first begin to use it all will
admit, but unfortunately it is like mod
crate drinking in its tendency, so insin-
uating in its growth as a habit, and they
become so addicted to it" to follow
ont the simile), that it seems impossible
TO make themselves Ineligible without
it. have heard young ladies(0 talk
ing who seemed to have an entire vo-
cabulary composed Of slang which
would be as utterly unintelligible to a
well bred English or Scotch girl as
Chinese or Greek.
Toquote the veteran philosopher again:
"These expressions cometo be algebraic
symbols Of minds which have grown too
weak or indolent to discriminate. They
are the blank checks of intellectual
bankruptcy. You may fill them up with
whatever idea you like. ItmalSes no diff
ference, for there are no funds in the
treasury upon which they are drawn"
That of course is very severe, but l
have often heard quite clever and well
educated young ladies using those odious
"blanlS checks" to such an extent that
any one not knowing them intimately
might readily have supposed their 'in-
tellectual bank" empty.
wonder what DR.. Holmes would have
thought of an actual conversation be-
tween two young ladies in good society,
so called, who sat behind me in the grand
stand at a baseball match last summer.
can give it almost verbatim;
"Say, Jen abbreviated form Of Jennie;
life is too short to use the whole of a
persons name), who is the fly looking
'snide in the yellow striped get upg"
"Oh come off the roofp To pretend
you don't know Cob. c.. o. b. are the
young gentleman's initials wittily con-
verted into COBB After the way you
went for him at the ball last week.
You can't stuff me with that kind of
gag, Miss Innocent"
"Oh, is that Cob? He must be off his
nut to rig himself in such swagger'
way"
"Oh Jen, look at Cobnow He is hor-
ribly ratified. Mabe Short for MabeD
'slung a glance at him, and he lost his
head as well as his base"
"Is she mashed on COBB"
"Ha, hal Pull down your vestr Do
you think Mabe is off her baseY She likes
him TO trot her round and stump up the
needfur for zee cream, etc, but she likes
Alf Jones better all the same-ee.' You
can bet your sweet life she won't marry
Cob"
Look at him now. You bet he's 'hus-
tlingr"
"Get there, Elim 'Ruddigore" "That
was boss runm and so on ad fnitum,
ad nauseum. All this in perfectly audi
bic voice, and they were seemingly un-
aware that there was anything vulgar or
ont of the usual IN their conversation.
Probably there was not, and yet those two
young ladies were college graduates and
were possessed Of more than average abil-
ity.
If you think this description exagger-
ated, listen critically to the next un-
restrained conversation between two
young ladies whom you know TO be
| guilty Of using slang freely. fancy l
hear you say, "But l never could talk
like that" Take carel Just as conf
dent ones as you have begun by using a
few slang words-'they are so cute and
expressive, you Rnoww-and ended by
forming a vulgar and enslaving habit
which took great strength of mind and
firm perseverance to break. The worst
stage Of slang devotee is when she
| grows utterly unconscious of or indif-
ferent to the habit. There is very little
hope of improvement for her. The only
safe way is never to form the habit at
all.
Dear young girls, on you the 'lan-
guage Of the future" in great measure
depends. You are the coming mothers
and teachers and viii have an all pow
erful influence in molding the language
of the next generation to come and mum
berless generations after that. See to IL
that it is a language Of intelligence.
grace and purity.-AIiss Frank Davis in
Wives and Daughters.
III. v.,,,. -, -,