The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-11-20
NIGHT SCHOOL COURSE.
xIr-How TO WRITE Goop ENG
LisH.

BY Prof. II. c. Rueh,er
The general object Of this course IL to
present In simple and practical form some
fundamental facts and principles regard
Ing the use Of our mother tongue and the
appreciation Of It's literature which every
intelligent person ought to know The
special object Of the frst papers viii be
70 draw attention TO some common blum
ders. and 10 show how TO avoid them
Before approaching. however, the subject
OF plumbers. !; win be wen 20 define what
u meant by good English" and 10 make
clear the standard by which the correct
ness or ''sncorrectncss- OF language
should be Judged. by what authority DO
we say OF certain expression that Il Is
right or wrong. Ia II because the
makers % grammar say "a ought to be
80, In the nature OF thtnes- Or because
De so. from the history Of the expression
or should we lock for the rinal decision to
some other trfbunai-
Good English Is the English used by
the best speakers and writer's Nothing
more and nothing less. And bad Eng
lish" Is simply English unlike that used
by the best speakers and writer's You
observe that nothing r. said In this den
milton about grammars or dictionaries
These much-duosed books though they
may record good usage. have little or no
influence In determining H. Our language
was spoken and written according to GER
tain fixed laws long before we had any
English grammars or dictionaries. and n
would continue 10 be 80 spoken and writ
ten II all our grafumars and dictionaries
should be destroyed These books In their
way are extremely useful. but they have
little more influence in establishing the
character of good English" than books
about the tides have In ordering the ma
icstic rise and fall Of the ocean Gram
mar Is merely an account Of the relations
which words bear 10 one another when
they are put together In sentences A
dictionary r. merely an account az the
accepted forms and meanings Of worda
s sona s ny tn sn,s s otter With
these books must get It's information hy
observing the usage OF the best speakers
and writer's. And u, az has often hap
psned. the usage of the best speakers and
writers changes. grammar~ and Aiction-
aries must be changed. too. Fer the fun
dnmentai thing IS usage. xrammars and
dictionaries being only convenient hand
books. recording for ready reference what
professional investigators have been able
10 learn about the words and sentence
structure used nv the best speakers and
writer's. II we find grammar out ~ ac-
cord with the usage Of the best spea kers
and writer's we should revise tho gram
mar and not criticisc the writers and
speakers.
But who are the best speakers and writ.
ers. whose manner OF using the mother
tongue makes law IN ianguaees Not
necessarily the best speakers ami writer's
among our acquaintance and friends; for
the chances are that the conversation Of
even the best o. our associates contains
many local expressions. some slang. ana
possibly some plumbers. "Yon tsften hear
4" i not proof that an expression Is good
English
Nor can ~ with certainty learn GOOD
use By observing the practice Of writer's
IN newEpapers Newspapers 81 hish rank
cont ain from time 10 time enperinllv n,
their editorial columns. some of the h~st
modern prose, and much literature that
has bccpme standard wMs flrst printed In
papers - written necessarily by contrib
uters who DO not belong tn tho ciasa ~
speakers or writer's whom tho world
deems Inc best" As she newspaper In fts
news records the life n every day. - In
rs style II too frequently records the
slang of daily life and the faults 81 or.
binary conversation. A newspaper con-