Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-07-04
GlRlSW HOUSES SLAM
: CONVERSATION BETWEEN 3.
COLLEGE GRADUATES TWO

Slang In the Mouths Of NJ.
but When Wen bred Young w.. .''arA
addicted to the Habit 1t Bse.. 'sn Ars
lutely Intoierable. 'ss Abss
Dear girls, avoid slang. Th..
many reasons why you sbo,n LIS ares
u, and only one excuse in H. not uss
nave ever heard from any rs aasor that
shorityl Here it is: 'eliable au.
Oliver Wendell Holmes II =.
racy breakfast table talks sas vae q his
think undervalue the ,,ro oass' Don't
application of a cant word or +, nh, use and
adds piquancy to convars =. Phrase Il
mushroom does to a sauce. : ~. as
is the idea most young ,ao. anas this
when they first begin 10 ny poople have
admit. but unfortunately it i i ill., =, vil
crate drinking in its tendency 81 Ing
uating in its growth as hai;. = ,nsln-
become SO addicted to ~ a. ana they
out the simile), that it seems ' IN follow
to make themselves intelligibla' pvsslOls
II. ! have heard young ladies' c ~ .a,l
ing who seemed to have m sn Y! 'alk.
cabulary composed Of slanc . ~. w.
would be as utterly unintellir;h,s" a =
well bred English or Scotch ~, ~, %
Chinese or Greek. s'ri as
Toquote the veteran philosonho.
"Ihese expressions come "a Is II. yam;
symbols of minds which have pra svuf J.
weak or indolent to discriminast.eO "1 y, 20
are the blank checks Of ;nta,,. insy
bankruptcy. You may fill them v - ~,
whatever idea you like. Itmatas y = VIA u,
ference, for there are no finds 4 ~
treasury upon which they are drawn ~ y slS
That of course is very severe H..
have often heard quite clever ana ", JUL
educated young ladies using those oi,; %sn
BLANK checks" to such an extent t'1 .Sus
any one not knowing them int;,r. ,aa'
might readily have supposed Their 1 49,
tellectual bank" empty. ~
wonder what DR.. Holmes would b.r.
thought of an actual conversation L.
tween two young ladies in good sociatv
SO called, who sat behind me in The crawl
stand at baseball match last summe,
| can give it almost verbatim:
Say, Jen abbreviated form Of jennie.
life is too short to use the whole 81 :
persons name), who is the .fly' looking
'snide' in the yellow striped get uppr
"Oh, come off the roofr To pretend
you don't know Cob. &c. o. B. are tbs
young gentleman's initials wittily com.
verified into 'Cob.D After the way Won
went for him at the ball last weebI
You can't STUFF me with that kind q
gag, Miss Innocent"
ooh, is that Cob? He must be off ri,
nut to rig himself in such a 'swargey
way"
"Oh, Jen, look at Cob now! He is bor.
ribly ratified Mabe (short for Mabel
'slung a glance at him, and he lost bis
head as well as his base"
"Is she mashed on CobY
"Ha, ha! Pull down your vestr Do
you think Mabe is off her baseY Shelikes
him to trot her round and stump uptha
needfuP for ice cream, etc., but she likes
ALT 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, Eli" "Ruddigore! 'That
was boss runw and SO on ad finitum
ad nauseum. All this in perfectly audi
BILE voice, and they were seemingly un
aware that there was anything vulgaror
out of the usual III their conversation
Probably there was not, and yet thosetwo
young ladies were college graduates and
were possessed of more than average abi
ity.
If you think this description exagger
ated, listen critically to the next IN
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 care! Just as conf
dent ones as you have begun by using
few slang words-"they are SO cute and
expressive, you knowv-and ended BY
forming vulgar and enslaving habit
which took great strength of mind and
firm perseverance to break. The worst
stage of a 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 Ian
guage of the future" in great measure
depends. You are the coming mothers
and teachers and will have an all pow
erful influence in molding the language
of the next generation to come and mum.
berless generations after that. See 10"
that it is a language of intelligence
grace and purity.-Miss Frank DAVIS IL
Wives and Daughters.