The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1906-03-15


cism, &c?
The letter "i' in many words Is errO-
neously pronounced as though it were
err We hear FREEDOM ornate, senterment-
al. deliberate. nomernate, prevareTeate,
crite1cize, etc. How much more pleasing
the proper sound of ''i'', as debilitate.
nominate, criticize, etc. Latin, satin.
matin, shoulG never be robbed of the let
ter ':i'' They are often lazily pronounc-
ed Latin, satin, mat'n. Take the last OF
these, and how much more euphonious
when with the poet we exclain. The
winged choristers began to chirp their
mathis
Let us pass next to the use and abuse
OF terms, including some single-word vul-
garisms. We often hear the expressions,
| intended to have gone, to have written,
etc. They should be, [ intended to go,
to write, etc, that is, it was my inten-
ton at some past time USUALLY named)
to 60, to write, etc. We should use in
these expressions, and in similar ones,
the present nfinitive instead of the par
ticiple. Is the following any worse than
the example last given-l tried to have
written this morning, but my pen was
worthless, and could not do SO.
The use of the contraction don't for
doesn't is frequent and deplorable.
Charles don like his cousin James; Susan
don't sing well; He don't live in Hender-
son. 1t will be noticed that this error
occurs in the third person singular only.
If we substitute doesn't the mistake is
readily seen, for this is the proper abbre-
Walton of does not, and we would GER
tainly use this form when the words are
not contracted-Charlas does not like;
Susan does not sing, etc. When making
this contraction elsewhere than in the
third person singular it is right to use
don't
Less is sometimes improperly put for
few. The former applies to quantity:
the latter to number. Hence it is wrong
to say, There are not less than forty
sheep in that flock; 1t will take not less
than ten thousand shingles to cover that
house We should say not fewer. But
it is proper to say that a pile of corn con-
tains less than ten bushels, because bulk
or quantity is under consideration.
The expression Later on is objec-
tionable. the on being superfluous. The
popular saying should be, ''Pll see you
later" Amt and faint are vulgarisms
that should be Stunned. Amt is used in
both the singular and the plural as Il
perversiOn, respec lively, OF am not, are
not and is mott amt ready, they amt
here, he amt sick. faint seems to
''abuse" the singular form only. as
faint six o'clock for it isn't six o'clock.
But perhaps the worst Of these widely
prevalent misuses is when the word got
is made to follow the verb have or has.
If our ears are open there will pour into
both Of them such barbarisms as, Have
you got pencilo Have you got time?
He's got a new buggy. I've got Jim's
coat. Who's got my hat? Have or has,
as here used, whether contracted or not,
is q principal verb, the got is redun-
dant, and its use almost ineXcusable in
those who make pretenslOn to scholar
ly attainmcnts ! heard once from the
lips Of a man in exalted position the fol-
lowing-''l can't do nothing Amt he
got no friends?' How come he to do
that rs he trying to recover back?'
These four wretched sayings were spoken
within fifteen minutes. | will add that
the gentleman who gave utterance to
them is not a citizen of Henderson.
| have named not few prevailing
abuses of our mother tongue. Should
not close reflection upon them induce us
to awake to the Importance OF setting
before our children, in the family, good
examples with reference to what some
are pleased to term matters OF small con-
sequence, in their education? If we are
negligent in this, If we do not supple
| ment the wholesome instruction of the
| schoOl-rOOm with careful home training
| much of the faithful teachers labor will
| be in vain. When pronunciation, spell
| ing and reading are presented attractive
| ly to children and to do SO is not very
difficult, they quickly become fond OF
! these important fundamental branches.
and as a rule, make rapid progress in
| them. The study OF diacritical marks,
accompanied with instruction regarding
accent, and infection should be a part,
| | think, of the prescribed course of even
young pupils, and they should be taught
| at an age perhaps not too tender-tO
| spell such words as separate. business
Wednesday, February, pneumonia. neu-
ralgia rheumatism, etc, all of them not
mastered sometimes by ''children of a
| larger growth
| Take the name of the distinguished
| English historian and statesman Ma
caulay, and that of the wisest of men,
Solomon. and ask a college graduate to
| spell them. He may not be able to do
SO. Your reply is, There are no rules
| for spelling proper names True. but
if that graduates primary teacher had
|
| syllable OF Macaulay contains an "a"
and that no vowel but 90 occurs in
Solomon, he pro baby would not give
''ly" or LEY as the closing letters OF the
historians name, nor would m-a.n be
made to conclude the name of him whose
| wisdom astOnished the queen of Sheba
| | here apologize to the program COM
mittee and to the Club at large for d.
crossing somewhat from my subject, as
| wish to refer briefly to the attractive
| study of wOrd -deriyations. And how very
| beautiful, and instructive, and sometimes
even enchanting is this study! How de-
lighted we are when some heretofore IN
known beauty of meaning bursts sudden
| ly from q word, which had been upon
our lips often enough to make it almost
commonplace! What a revelationl 1t
is like finding gem OF passing loneliness
| and worth in a ring or some other piece
Of jewelry. which had been ours for long.
| when, as by accident it were. q secret
spring is touched and the new found
treasure is exposed to our enraptured
gaze.
Let us try to illustrate What
thoughtless hunter as he boasts of the
craftsmanship which brings from the
top of Hottest tree the Inflated squir-
! rel, stops TO think that the pretty little
creature gets its name from its tail-the
word meaning shadow-tail. AS. perhaps.
| that appendage thrown over his body
umbrella-like, shields him from heat of
sun. or disagreeableness OF pelting rain
| Darwin. it seems, was not the first to
| note a close resemblance between man
and the monkey, for the manner of our
quadrumanous friend gave him his title
because it means little man. The word
rat signifies to gnaw. and all of us read
lily recognize the appropriateness of the
name His little cousin the mouse, which
means to hide, was so called because of
his secretiveness-madee easy by his light
ness of foot and his smallness Perhaps
every body doesn't know that our
Thanksgiving bird, the turkey (good.
by the way and provocative of thanks
at other seasons is SO called from the
mistaken notion that it first came from