Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-18

mice" with YOU You listen to a nice
sermon, you meet nice girl, you eat
some nice sweets. and / once heard girl
say that she went to nice funeral 1t is
poor little word. and l would advise you
to drop it from your vocabulary.
You laughed when hearing of man
from the county who. reg istering at the
hotel wrote "Mr. Brown and Lady" OF
course, he meant wife and of course
he made foolish mistake, but not an
objectionable one. Often, in your desire
to use the word lady" properly, you
speak of women until certain harsh
sound results, and one almost wishes that
YOU would. confess your acquaintance
with few ladies.
Discriminate Wisely.
) A society paper, eager to be correct, re-
.ferred to the .unbonneted women who
receSNed With hostess" and, oddly
enough, the effect on every reader was
the same. Before her arose the vision of
a 'loud-yoieed, leud-mannered. over
dressed woman, who had literally thrown
off her bonnet Discriminate. my Doro-
thy, and use these words, LADY" and
gentleman" when they should be used,
and men" and women" as they are
most proper. Remember, too, that the
charming girl you met yesterday is an
acquaintance" and not a friend
friends are gained after long acquaint-
ance, IOiiOWeQ by q close intimacy.
Do not announce that you are going to
''inaugurate" something, meaning that
you are going to begin or start; and do
not, my dear Dorothy. ever say of any
. body no matter how charming her man
ners may be. that she is quite the lady"
You are indignant-you never do say it
but oh, Dorothy. we never know to what
base uses we may come.
1900 The Secret of 1t All.
1t is carelessness. You know better, if
you can be taught better, but you seem
to prefer to pluck the errors from off
some poisonous plant rather than to take
the trouble to climb the stately grammar
tree and gain wisdom through work.
That somebody else talks about gums
or "rubberS" does not excuse you, nor
should you fall into the same error when
you mean to say "overshoes." And, gen
eraliZing, the people who ride are on
horses and the people who drive are in
carriages. Little things, yes; but these
little things make or mar converse ton.
Your grandmamma may make many er-
rors if she speaks to you, and yet II she
wrote a letter these mistakes would not
appear AS the years have gone on she
has grown careless, and some rude young
people will laugh at her But you-you
who would not be SO wiclred-will, in
kindly way, look upon that affectionate
grandmother as an awful example, and
guard your words as you do your jewels,
else from sheer carelessnesS you will find
when you are an old lady that pearls of
price. in the form of proper words, will
not fall from your lips, but that frogs
and toads, in the form of horrid mistakes,
will issue forth and make you a laughing
stock to those who forget that age de-
mands respect, no matter what its mis-
takes may be.
Then, too, when you speak, do it dis
tinctly and clearly, but not with shrill-
ness. There is no necessity for you to
scream in order to be emphatic. Neither
need you humble and swallow half your
words, as though you were afraid to be
too generous with them. Avoid slang as
you do vulgarity. Avoid long words when
short ones will answer just as well. Pre-
te1tion in language is like pretension in
Recommendations. Time worn quota
tons are tiresome; forget them. If you
happen to be enough of an actress to be
able to tell a story we'll and can amuse
your friends with anecdotes, do it, but do
not bore them with old stories, nor worry
them with stupid ones. And remember
that different words sometimes have diff
ferent meanings in different places. When
you say that a woman is "homely," you
mean that she is not pleasant to look
upon; when your English cousin says a
Woman is "homely," She means that she
is not beautiful, but that she has kindly
expression in her. face, suggestive of
cheerfulness, hospitality and friendliness.
And the English definition is perhaps the
best.
The End of the Sermon.
Most sermons are words, and words and
words. This one is preached about words
and it is preached with a kindly feeling,
for the preacher knows that her own mis-
takes are many. 1t is always easier to
preach than to practice but it pleases
me to think that some of my girls-one or
two, or three-will think over this little
sermon about words and use the right
words in the right place; that one or two
or three of my girls will drop all that
slang which may make speech pictures
que, but certainly does not sound well
when it issues from the lips of a gentle
woman. The American girl is as rich as
far as ideas are concerned, as quick
witted, and ought to be sufficiently eager,
because she is an American girl, to speak
correctly. She need not be a prig, she
need not suggest the school room, but
she should speak intelligently and cor
rectly. There are two books to which my
girls may always turn for English unde-
filed: First the Bible; second, the works
OF Shakespeare. Vulgar language sug-
gests a vulgar mind, therefore, my Doro-
thy, be careful about your speech. Lei
your words mirror beautiful thoughts
and when Prince Charming is strolling
through that wood in which the grammar
tree grows, he will know that you are
surely the princess, for in your answer to
him there will be diamonds and pearls in
the form of your English, coming from
your lips, and he will learn to reverence
all women for your sweet sake
Mayberry & Watson for tile and CRATES.