The evening times., 1900-01-08
The American Language.

/ An observing man in Indianapolis has
/ formulated a system By which he thinks
I he can tell a mans residence by his pro-
nunciarion Of a certain word. This word is
table d'hote.' The philosopher I'm ques-
/ tion lives in large hotel. and In the elc-
/ vator is a card stating that there will b.
I liable hOte" dinner al a certain hour
The people who come into the elevator nat
urally enquire OF the attendant where this
, meal is served. and most Of them do not
know just how 90 pronounce the term. The
different pronunciaJiOns. so far a- tabu-
lated. are as follows.
Chicago. tlbbIc DAY r1te.
Louisville. tahul drrr.
DE MoIus-- tay-bul dt lui.r.
Omaha. table dough.
Indianapolis table de l0tc
"GTsnd Rapids. tIhLc dlJir
'>iouy CITY. thhuI dc hoo.
"O6l5Homl. what ~ y clllyu-"
All this is OF interest simply as throwing
light on a certain characteristic Of Ameri-
can life. From one point OF view. nothing
can be more absurd than that a term
should come into common use when nine
out OF ten of the people who use it do not
know how it ought 70 be pronounced. OF
course. this must always be the case with
new word Tor a time. but table d'hote''
has been term in common use in this
country for at least one generation-since
the time of "Casey's tabble dote." so feel
ingly described by Eugene Field.
So slight a thing as this is straw
which indicates the general tendency of
American life. In this country it is impos
siblc for any class Of people to keep a
fashion, "A term, or a habit from the use of
the multitude. There is no law. written or
unwritten; no sentiment no custom. which
can prevent the factory girl from being as
nearly like her employers daughter as she
can. She may initiate the dress of that
young lady, she may read the same books.
she may speak the same language if she
makes mp her mind TO do so. and she fire.
quently does. There are places where class
distinctions are recognized frankly by the
working people, but in most cases this is
due to large foreign admixture in the
population. The average American intends
TO dine at a table d'hote" If he has the
money to pay for it. whether he knows how
to pronounce the name or not.
There is a good and a bad aspect Tn this
'N 'A N1A''S' hN .apihk Oh foreign GUS
toms and the endeavor to achieve 4 sham
gentility by the use Of large-soundinq
terms are false and foolish. When an archf-
tect builds alot Of shoddy little houses made
to look like the cottages OF the rich. and sac
rinces substantially to a tawdry effect he
does wrong. But when he builds house
which is comfortable, honestly constructed
and suited to the needs Of the occupants
ne ought for the sake OF his art TO add all
the beautiful effects which he can devise
and his employers pay for. He may make
that cottage resemble the much finer resi-
dence OF a millionaire at Newport. and he
will be doing well, not because million
aire per Sc is any better worth imitation
than any one else but because the houses
of the rich may easily be worth imitation
for their own sake.
The American is quick to seize on any
phrase which he thinks indicates a culture
superior to his own. At one time this led
10 a considerable use of long and learned
words Plain people said they desired
instead Of wished and they stopped talk
ing about spades and began to converse
about agricultural Implements But his
sort Of thing is disappearing 1t will not
be long before plain. simple. precise Eng