The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-18
The Discussion as to Speech.

The Discussion as to Speech.
Carelessness regarding proprieties OF
behavior once deemed requisite in peo-
pie OF decent breeding is generally
notable at this period. 1t has it's good
side, as we remarked the other day.
The impotence of anything that APP
proaches or suggests posing, which is
prime essential of good manners as they
are now Judged, is creditable contem-
porary manifestation. 1t betokens a
higher appreciation Of sincerity and
simplicity.
Besides, certain formalities OF beha-
vior once held to be decorously requi-
site are now set aside as superfuous
affectations. Old time chivalry was
all very we'll as a step in civilization,
but underlying it there was good deal
of humbug. Bowling and scraping,
courtesying and coquetting are pre-
served in stage revivals Of the old plays
of fashion. but in their extremes, even as
people who can look back no more than
a quarter Of a century remember them,
they have passed away and have come
to be regarded as somewhat silly.
That is all very we'll. 1t indicates
progress in social discernment and Gull
tivation. Naturalness is now the prime
test of good manners, Behave decently
because you are decent, is now the law
of social intercourse. Thus it happens
that even behavior which savors of boor-
ishness is tolerated, on the ground that
1t is natural; at any rate, as it consti-
tutes revelation OF the real and true
character of the man guilty of it, there
may be social profit in making the dis
covery.
While this tendency to overthrow
artificial formality in favor of simplicity
and naturalness has gone on, there has
accompanied it carelessness in matters
really important as evidences Of refine
ment. People have become slovenly in
their speech ntidy,' as Mr.. HENRY
JAMES calls it. 1t is not that they use
slang; slang may be used appropriately
and picturesquely; but that they are
Indifferent about pronunciation and even
grammatical construction. Even il their
speech is correct enough, their vocab-
ulary is likely to be poor and cheap, and
insufficient to express any considerable
range Of ideas and thoughts.
Some Of our correspondents accuse us
Of dulness Of ear because we said the
other day that We had not discovered
hereabouts the particular "untidiness'
to which Mr.. HENRY JAMES referred.
or the lacking on OF r. to the end of
words to which it does not belong. They
contend that the habit is glaringly prev
alent in New York. 1t may be, but We
have not observed 1t among educated
people. Very likely it may be frequent
or usual, az our correspondents assert.
among people who pretend to social Gull
tivation. OF course, the pronunciation
Of papa and mama with the accent
on the first syllable, Ia common enough,
but saying pepper" and -mommer' is
another matter.
Why is it any more offensive than the
aristocratio English custom of leaving
of the e. in words ending with that
letter? This elimination of the g" has
become almost hall mark Of social
superiority in England, and American
women who come home after an expert
ence of English society are likely to
affect it as a sign that they have been
there. Not long ago an English ecclesi-
astic of renown astonished many Ameri-
can hearers of his addresses in this coun-
try by his invarable dropping Of the e.
in that way.
That is very bad, and it is inexcusable.
but it is a mere affectation of Indifference
to correctness Of speech on the part of
people who know better. The trouble
here is that usually the people who mis-
use the English language do not know
any better. They are prone to mis-
pronunciation and to the use OF vocabu-
larry which to cultivated ear seems
typical of inferior cultivation and I'M
refined antecedents and associations.
Probably they are careless of such criti-
cism, being sustained by their wealth
or social consequence. All the same,
their title to their assumed social ele-
walton would be clearer ii they talked
like cultivated people.