The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1893-02-28
GIRLSWHOUsE SLANG
A CONVERSATION BETWEEN TWO
COLLEGE GRADUATES.

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Slang In the Mouths Of MEN TsBad Enough,
hut When Wen bred Young Women Arc
Addicted to the Habit It Becomes Abso-
lutely Intolerable.
Dear girls, avoid slang. There are so
many reasons why you should not use
it, and only one excuse in its favor that
have ever heard from any reliable au-
thority! Here it is:
Oliver Wendell Holmes, in one OF his
racy breakfast table talks, says: Don't
think underyalue the proper use and
application of can't word or phrase. 1t
adds piquancy to conversation as q
mushroom does to a 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 o habit, and they
become so addicted to it" Ito follow
out the simile), that it seems impossible
to make themselves Ineligible without
it. have heard young ladies' tD talk
ing who seemed to have an entire vo-
cabulary composed of slang which
would be as utterly unintelligible to q
well bred English or Scotch girl as
Chinese or Greek. 1
Toquote the veteran philosopher again:
"These expressions come to be algebraic
symbols OF minds which have grown too
weak or indolert TO discriminate. They
are the blank checks of intellectual
bankruptcy. You may fill them mp with
whatever idea you like. It makes no diff
ference, for there are no funds In the
treasury upon which they are drawn"
That of course is very severe, but
have often heard quite clever and well
educated young ladies using those odious
blank checks" to such an extent that
any one not knowing them intimately
might readily have supposed their ''in-
tellectual bank" empty.
Iwonder what DIR. Holmes would have
thought Of an actnal conversation be-
tween two yonng ladies in good society,
80 called, who sat behind mein the grand
stand at baseball match last summer.
can give it almost verbatim:
Say, Jen abbreviated form of Jennie;
life is too short to use the whole of D
persons nane), who is the fly looking
'snide' in the yellow striped get upy"
"Oh, come off the roofr To pretend
you don't know Cob. &C. O. B. are the
young gentleman's initials wittily con-
verted into .Cob.D After the way you
went for him at the ball last weeki
You can't stuff me with that kind of
u gag, Miss Innocent s.s %sqg S
"Oh. is that Cob? He must be off his
nut to rig himself in such a 'swagger'
way"
"Oh, Jen, look at Cob nowl He is hor-
ribly ratified Mabe (short for MabeD
'slung glance at him, and he lost his
head as well as his base"
SIS she mashed on Cob?'
"Ha, ha! Pull down your vestr Do
you think Mabe is of her basey She likes
him to trot her round and stump up the
needfuf for ice 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-
tling!'s
'.Get there. Elir .Ruddigorer' THAT
i,
ad nauseum. All this in perfectly audi
BILE voice, and they were seemingly un-
aware that there was anything vulgar or
out 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
hear you say, "But never could talk
like that" Take carel Just az conf
dent ones as you have begun by nsing a
few slang words-sthey are so cute and
expressive. you know!v--and ended by
forming vulgar and enslaving habit
which took great strength of mind and
firm perseverance to break. The worst
stage Of q slang devotee is when she
grows utterly unconscious Of or indif
ferent to the habit. There is very ittlt
hope of improvement for her. The only
safe way i never to form the habit o.
all. "
Dear young girls, on yous the .'lan
guage Of the future in great measure
depends. You are the coming 1nctiiers
and teachers and will have an ali pow
erfll Influence III molding the Language
Of the next generation to come and mum
berless generations after that. Seeto !,
that il is 4 language of intelligence
grace and purity Miss Frank Davis
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