The San Francisco call., 1904-02-25

=
and moved upon by moods and expert
ences new. untried and unadjusted-
She has not yet got her perspective in
life. Perhaps this is one reason why,
just at the time when she begins to-
take on little extra politenesses and ele-
gancies Of manner toward her mates,
she also begins 10 think slang clever
and expressive. She is al pains to ac-
Quire the vocabulary Of slang and to
introduce il into her conversation, be-
cause Of a mistaken idea that it means
more than ordinary English can ex-
press. ] wonder If il does.
Poverty Of thought and Of language
Is a far more shameful thing than pow
erty Of purse. II argues stupidity, as
poverty OF purse cannot Not every
body has free access TO wealth, but
every intelligent human being has free
access TO that great stOrehOuse IF
words called the English language.
There are 20O.0 Of these words. The
English tongue is the richest in the
world in synonyms and in words which
are nearly synonyms, but which ex-
press varying shades Of the same idea.
Yet Of this vast wealth the great mass
Of educated people in this country is
content 10 put TO use but a paltry four
or five hundred, 1t is as though a man
with unlimited wealth at his command
should be content 10 use merely a few
dollars now and then; TO live in a mar
row, mean way. letting his wealth lie
idle. not because he was miser, but
because he was too stupid to realize
its power.
Now there is no one thing outside Of
ignorance which has such a limiting
influence on the use Of English as
slang. This reads like paradox. Most
people think OF slang as a more than
usually free and picturesque use Of
language. They think that a man who
uses a great many new or quaint slang
words or phrases enriches his vocabu-
larry thereby. Let US consider the mat
ter for a moment
The user Of slang is always inclined
TO the constant use of certain pet
phrases, which, while they are in ia
vor. are made to do A great deal Of
extra work. Here for instance. is an
actual conversation to which listened
not long ago. The speakers were a
girl and a young man. both university
students. who sat behind me in a
train They were evidently talking of
college athletics. The girl spoke first:
"G.'s an Al runner, isn't he?" she
asked.
Wei, ] should remark; amt he
jUst?" was the reply.
Did you see the midterm field
work. the girl asked next.
Il should remark. G. ran in great
shape. didn't he? L. was good enough,
but G.-well, / should remark"
There was a pause and then the
talk turned TO more serious matters.
I'm looking at psychology" the girl
said. ('Looking at is collegese for
giving special attention to-
Are you? 1 got mine all done %
last year. tell you I'm thankful
some, There are some things 1 can
see the sense of, but psychology
Well, should remark"
1t is hard" she admitted.
Hard? We'll. ] should remark
We reached my station and left
the train. much edited by what I had
overheard. Doubtless the higher edu-
cation was doing much for those young
people, but does any one suppose that
the youth really expressed himself by
that inane reiteratiOn Of a phrase in
itself inane and meaningless? Yet
only a short time ago q bright, clever
girl, whose education advantages have
been unusual, contended with me, seri-
ously. for the value Of slang. Gould
anything" she said. be more per-
fectly expressive than the phrase
pulling his leg ,"
Expressive Of what? asked a
number Of people what it expressed
10 them, and here are some of their
replies.
''Why-why-to work him" CThree
gave this answer.)
To come a con game on him"
''Why-you know-why, TO draw
him down"
TO get the BEST Of him.
TO hoodwink him"
Nearly every one of those asked
found it necessary to resort to further
slang TO define the phrase, and nearly
every one had a different shade OF
meaning for il.
That last is really a serious flaw in
slang as a medium Of expression
Nearly every one has his own idea oi
what a given phrase means, but the
idea of the hearer may be quite diff
1erenl from lldt Ol the user. ANY
one can prove this by choosing some
bit Of current slang and asking ter
or a dozen different persons what il
means.
Each time we use a slang phrase
We set aside ? correct word or phrase
which belongs in use and by so much
we limit our power Of expression. A
limited vocabulary means a limited
mind. Words actually bring ideas in
their train. Every new set of words
acquired brings a new mental outlook
one reason why the English language
has such a comprehensive vocabulary
is that the Notwithstanding people
have been great wanderers, English
men have sailed over seas to foreign