The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-04-10

How It Came 90 ne Synonymous with
Kindly and Honest.

How It Came 90 he Synonymous with
Kindly and Honest.
The English meaning OF the word
clever Is given In the dictionaries as
dexterous, sldllfui, ingenious. In the
United States II is, in some parts Of
the country, used in the sense Of well
disposed, kind, honest" There can DO
no doubt that we obtained the word
from England and with the meaning 1t
has always had in that country. IL Is
significant fact that the English mean
ing is used and accepted in the oldest
parts OF our country and prevails in
parts OF our country farthest and most
rapidly advancing In the circumstances
we express by the word civilization.
We can readily see how, in this coun-
try. we came to change the meaning and
why now we are gradually going back
to its original significance. In the early
settlement OF America, and in the set
Element of what we know as the new
portions of the United States, it hap
pened through the absence of means to
hire assistance that the custom grew
OF neighbors helping each other. 1t
was a common thing for a new settler
to have ''house raising" From apple
parings and bed cuttings TO harvest
gatherings neighbors far and near came
in TO lend helping hand and made the
occasion social as well as industrial.
In the help gatherings" those who
came in showed different degrees OF
skill and also different degrees of alac-
rity and willingness, for there was no
compensation beyond the social enjoy
ment that accompanied the work. One
would naturally imagine how the help
ing neighbors became noted In greater
or less degree for ''cleverness" in the
English sense.
IL is easy 10 see how the "clever" man
more easily attended 10 his own affairs
and had more time to devote 10 the
assistance of his new neighbors. And
this very 'cleverness" which gave him
more leisure was naturally conducive
TO the cheerful and willing disposition
that usually accompanies the sntisfac-
tory condition of ones own affairs.
Then, too, there Is the natural DISPOSE
tion that makes persons more or less
well disposed and kind and honest in
the sense of kindly and fair-mindedneSs.
| Under such conditions of life in a new
country just beginning to build itself
up IL might easily happen TO come about
! that such word as ''clever" came to
mean not only "dexterous, skillful and
ingenious" but also "well disposed.
kind and honest" and when people un-
der such primitive conditions spoke OF
n ''clever" person they referred 10 moral
and social qualities as well as TO intel
| lectual and manual ability.
| But as parts of the country became
older and more settled and there was
an increase of population and wealth,
there came means for securing assist
ance without calling on kind, well-dis-
posed and honest" neighbors for vol
untary help and we can see the word
"cleverness" as applied TO neighborly
qualities gradually going into disuse.
And now IL is noticeable that in Bos-
ton, New York and other old eastern
cities and throughout the older settle
ments OF the country the word "clever"
Is used in its original English sense,
while the nearer we approach the new
ly-settled parts of the country we And
4 hSNh WIN ibo iONt1i
meaning. 1t il not unusual TO hear
in these new places man spoken of
as ''clever" who is neither intellectually
or. mechanically ingenious, but simply
"well-disposed and obliging." And, on
the contrary, in other and more adj
vanced communities we hear Of man
who is neither kind nor willing spoken
of as "clever," because he is SO "slxillful
and ingenious"
| Many English words that have n
meaning In the United States different
from that commonly used in England
have been in the same way affected by
local conditions and circumstances. but
as these become more and more like the
conditions existing In the older country
we find the meaning in the use OF the
word going back 20 its original signifi-
canoe. There are many persons who give
little study TO the uses, meanings and his
tory OF words and often these new mean
ings are set down by them as a servile
imitation OF the English, but TO the
student OF words these changes show
the strength and pliability of our Ian
guage, as we'll as the steady progress Of
our own country In the advancement Of
better and more mature conditions
Philadelphia Times.
Women Make Splendid Sailors.