Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-11-25
BAGLEY DEFENDS
THE USE OF SLANG
Answers a Critic Who Writes
Him a Letter on the
Subject.
SAYS METHOD TELLS THINGS.
Was Called Forth BY Reader Who
Would Drcs, Boxing In the Most
Erudite English Possible.

Baglcy tho well known sporting writer.
docs not agree with a critic who "co,led"
him for using slong phrases in his arti-
Giles on boxing, horseracing etc. The re.
ply of Bagley, whether right or wrong,
Is herewith given because 1t Is decidedly
interesting,
Mr. Gym Baglcy.
Dear slr-l never saw piizehght But
l have read With a great deal Of interest
your articles on chat subject II may be
presumption on my part TO offer any crit
iclsm but cannot help thinking that
they would read better II not so heavily
ldtucd with slang terms
Under the castlgatiou Of impertinence
be II SPOKEN, why do YOU use slang2
l cannot expect you 10 publish this let.
ter but | hope you will not take otiense
at II, o. none is Intended.
The one who Is above criticism never
said anything worth critclsng. | use
slang tor the same reason that China.
man wears his shirt outside his pants.
Because he likes 1t best that way.
rms liking has rs reasons. II Is an cf-
fort after the best method OF expression
The best method Ii force, vgor
"Caskets for deceased females"
"Coftns for dead women.
Is there any choice between these two
forms Of expression?
the English language az best is poor Ia
phrases that express themselves "Thun-
der and lightning" are TWO WORDS the
sound OF which carry their meaning with
them. How harsh are It's terms Of en-
dcarmcnt. Compare the English dear"
'darlRg,' with the Italian "cara.'
Change my vito into "sposa mia ami
you can con her into forgetting that YOU
owe her that bonnet.
II is the method OF expression In popu-
"a a .
erature A circulation that no other equals.
He whose ear is tuned TO the turning
OF fine phrases will curl up his literary
nose and say that Tho Banks Of the
Wabash Is rot. From his point OF view.
a narrow one. yea
Through tho sycamOres the candle
lights are cleaning
That limo sings Itself There are no
The Wabash is a streak OF mud that
one could jump across In two Jumps
What would candle lights be doing in
the woods? But who IN sam H!l cal es;
Had the writer said THE candle lights
are cleaning, through the sycamores.'
his song would never have been heard.
But he knew the value Of expression.
And millions gave voice to It. 4
Give the people what they need aud
you'll never get an audience. Give them
what they want and they'll break a Lex
TO buy your wares.
The saddest case Of misplaced effort
know is that OF man who trained oys-
tiers. Imagine the time and patience nee
essary to train an dozen oysters so that
they would perform at the word OF com
mand, But when he was ready to take
tickets at the door no one came TO see
them Who cared Tor oysters that way?
II people did not want slang they
wouldn't talk IT,
The Bible, Of all written works is the
best because II is written in snort s,n-
fences a 70
Slang Is the most forceful method OF
expression. II is the life Of Language
II is the converse OF men when they meet
and have something to say II lives be-
cause II is expressive When II IS vul-
gar II dies, The coinage Of a phrase
passes into a spoken language because
nothing so we'll expresses It's meaning
And words SO coined get into the dlction-
All HAT went @"blockhead."
Ounce 'dullard"-never named dull
fellow so thoroughly as "chump."
"Chump' is now in the dictionary,
the John l.. Sullivan type. is seated nj
table lie Is one who takes a whole
chicken In his hairy hands and tears II
apart with his teeth He eats two table
d'hote dinners at sitting writer
speaks Of him as daintily picking the
wing Of butterfly,
Two men In the ring, One is 80 clever
that the other cannot strike him. says
"He couldn't hit him with a carriage
whip"
Isn't that force Of expression?
a blow is struck with such weight that
It knocks the other fellow down That
blow is called a "haymaker." The term
tells It's own story
THAT guy Is logging IT,"
The boxer referred to Is fighting Ike a
dog-he Is a cur.
He won in walk" Could anything
| better exuress the ease with which n race
| horse came in first?
In a gambling house the white chips