The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1905-02-04
Purity of Speech.
From PhiIadelphia Ledger.

The injunction of an old English writer,
couched in quaint terms, to the effect that
it behooreth young men to keep close
watch on their speech and see that it de-
meaneth itself well, referred to evil speak
ing, foolish talk and the like, and not to
the mere use of words. The injunction is
still apt, but those who read current, eph-
emeral books and those who hear the COM
mon speech of American men and women
would apply it to the words, the locutions,
the loose phrase, the interminable smart
slang.
1t has been said of certain contemporary
writer that he is almost the only one left in
the present generation who can write like
a scholar without using the terms of trade
and commerce in literature. This seems
to be an exaggeration, but in recent col
lection of essays professed literary man,
who was concerned in the direction of a
literary journal, wrote seriously of things
in the literary line, Just as a commercial
traveller would quite naturally talk of the
wares in the grocery or hardware line.
Doctor johnson said of certain illiterate
writers of his time that they would debase
the language, and in our day the illiterate
are liberal contributors to current speech.
The reason is quite plain: everybody reads;
every trade interest, sport and activity Of
the world now has an organ or journal
which reports the doings of the particular
class or activity, and these special terms
and the slang connected with them get into
print. whereas in former times they were
known only to the interested classes. The
fashion of recruiting our eolloquial speech
and our printed slang from these classes
tends to make the language obscure.
Wa Ting-fang, the former Chinese Min
lister to the United States, astonished
young woman in Washington by his ready
use Of sonorous English, and she said to
him, why, you speak English as well as
| dor 81 speak it better than you do,
he answered, with the frankness for which
be was famed ''I have learned my En-
glish from Shakespeare, Milton, Goldsmith
and Burke, while your English, like that
current at this time in this country, is
compounded of all the slang from the count
ins house, the factory, the schoolyard and
the race track My English has been
learned from the masters of English, while
the English speech now in use here is
largely made by the careless and the illit
crate.
Ii is true that no language is fixed ex-
cent dead language, and that live Ian
guase. ike the ocean which receives con-
tributions from maltitudes of sources, will
constantly accept new words. Some of the
slang of today viii inevitably be the vigor-
Gus idiomatic speech of tomorrow. New
words win be coined as long as the language
lives. but it must be understood that Ian
guase and speech are vehicles of thought,
means of communication, and that II one
Is to make oneself understood close at
tention must be paid TO the accepted and
universally understood part of the language
used
Every trade, sport, amusement or sps-
eial department at life has technical vo-
eabulary. When that vocabulary is used
in the trade or activity, it is not slang, but
Is mere technical dialect: but when it IS
transferred to general use in another sense
it becomes an uninteligible jargon. \
racing man knows perfectly well what is
mean, BY ringer and the race track
bettor understands what is meant by the
word .weleher and 'c0me to the
scratch, but they are slangy and some
times wholly unintelligible when they apply
these terms 10 the ordinary affairs of life
"An human speech. even the most intimate,
Is intended for the ears of others, and must,
therefore. have certain dignity aud courtesy,
ont Of respect for ones hearers, If not for one
self Now, slang, from the very fact that4t
is slang, that il is not the accepted medium
of communication. has a laini Of improprieiy
about il which makes il offensive. Again, the
very currency Of slang depends on its illusions
10 things which are not supposed to be uniyer-
sally familiar or generally respectable; and
hence it Is vulgar, since it brings in associa
lions with what is for the moment regarded as
unknown or in bad repute.
These Judicial aud judieiOus conclusions
are from the excellent book, ''Words and
Their Ways in English Speech, by
Greenough and Kittridge, who point out
acutely that, though the language is for
ever changing, the permanent elements lar
outweigh the variable, and that the ac
cepted means of communication in any
language has a constant and enduring ma
ture The zeal language remains intelli
gible for long periods, while slang becomes
obsolete in months or days, aud is, there
fore. not adapted for use in Legitimate
speech.
There is another and perhaps more i'm
portant consideration for tie user of slang
than that it is vulgar, unintelligible to the
hearer. or that it tends to degrade and cor
rupt the great English speech. The terms
of slang are vague and i'll defined and "the
habitual use of slang is harmful to the
mind as well as to the manners of the user.
| Slang tends to level all the nice distinctions
of meaning which il has been the work of
\ multitudes Of thoughtful and intelligent
men to build up for ages. This nice use
of language is the certain mark and sign
/ of cultivated intelligence, and if one drops
into the habit of using hazy, vague and
meaningless language it may be taken for
granted that the language is becoming the
expression of the crude, vague and barbar-
Gus thought and habit of mind. In all
civilized lands it has been possible to tell a
cultivated man from boor by the language
Of the enlightened person. 1t is our proud
boast in this country that, as education is
widespread, there is very little difference
] I ba o,Naaoh ,,cal
Nearly every one can speak passably well,
and the language used by one is under
stood of the other This universally of
speech is a great blessing, but there is a
danger that we are 'leveling down.
! Wopdarf,1 Watch