Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1905-1906, 1906-01-16

queer, purity for pretty, "drap'
for drop, ..seed' for saw, 'kinder'
for kind of, ''sheer'' for share,
"tuck' for took, ''sumpin' for
} something, sole" for old, "biler"
for boiler, ashanti" for shall not,
"ain t" for am not, etc, "kittle"
for kettle, "h listed" for hoisted,
III int" for joint, "ruinated" for
ruined, etc.
1t Is worth noticing, however, that
some authorizations once looked on as
in bad form are rapidly gaining in
favor. "Isn IT, "doesn t.
"didn IT, "I'n," "he II, " "don t."
"won IT, and some other such words
are now generally regarded as per-
MISSILE in conversation and informal
writing. "Ain't," "'shan t." etc,
are still considered bad.
| Notwithstanding the admonitions
of the grammer-makers, our people
in large majority insist on using
clay instead of lie. More than
this, the word can be found so used
by good writer's. As a very recent
example, let me quote from Bret
Harte's GA Jack and Jill of the ST.
erras' Mcclure s for July, 1900 !:
"Then every man laid down again,
as if trying to erase himself.'
| Chaucer uses it in the prologue.
Robert Louis Stevenson more than
once uses "eat' pronunciation ETY.
instead of ate. Addison says II lit
my pipe with paper. cts me- or
cit is me,' is coming to be univer
sally used instead of "it is L. and
the usage is sanctioned by such an
authority as Barrett Wendell, of Har-
ward. The truth is, easy and con-
venient expressions, despite gram
NAUTICAL rules and the rawlings of pur-
lists, are like Banquo's ghost; they
will not down.
| Most persons have heard illiterate
,neighbors use such seeming contor
tons as becaise' (because), "jine'
john, "bile" (boiD, "seed" (saw).
"deaf" like deaf, "jist" (jusD,
''shet' (shut), "chaw' (chew) and
"techy' (touchy.) At first blush
these seem hopelessly bad, yet in re-
ality they are but the older forms of
the equivalent forms now in use
Pepys quotes letter written by the
Earl of Leicester, EIizabeth's favor
lite, concerning the sudden death of
Amy Robsart, in which the form
"becaise' occurs. Johnson says in
his dictionary: "Bile; this is eener-
ally spelt boil, but, I think, less prop
erly.' Pope and Dryden rhyme
"join' with "line,' or some such
word:
'Tis not enough taste, judgment,
learning join;
In all you speak let truth and cam
| dour shine.'
In fact, "jine'' was at one time
considered the best pronunciation.
Shakespeare uses "techy' three
times. "Kiver,' "deaf' and
"chaw' are good old English words.
Concerning the last, Schele de We're
quotes the following from a private
letter:
"The late eloquent Watkins Leigh
was asked by a friend what he
thought Of James Buchanan (the
Presidency, and answered that he had
one serious objection to him, and
when pressed to name it, said that
once, when he and Mr.. Buchanan
were sitting together in the United
States Senate. the latter asked him
for a chew of tobacco instead of a
"chaw." Evidently Mr. Buchanan
"put on little too much dog to
suit his confrere. The use of chew
ing gum threatens to make chew the
universal term, though the old form
still prevails among those who now
and then take "chaw of tobacco -
| Numerous other expressions have a
better justification than most people
would guess. The Bible gives us
"with the skin of my teeth" Job IS
20; "clean gone" Psalms, IT'S; a
"howling wilderness,'' Deuteerono-
my, 32:10. "Gumption and
"hustle' are both of ancient use
Shakespeare speaks of a "deck of
cards,' and uses "fire' in the sense
of to thrust out. Cover uses etc
let slide:' Ben Johnson, "to swop,''
and ''bulldoze' occurs in Scott. The
"them" in such expressions as
"them books is a survival from the