The Washington herald., 1909-01-17


made a discovery OF what many visit
ors to the Windy City had suspected
many times before-which is. the teach
ers declare. that Chicagoans seem to be
| too busy TO use good Eaglish. Correct
ness. elegance. and precision they hold
TO be requisites in a scientific treatise.
but too many Of them think these quail
ties hardly worth striving FOR in every
day conversation. They attempt 70 ex-
cuse this by saying that when they feel
/ the want Of words 10 convey an exact
shade OF meaning they haven't time 10
go huntin- for 'em" in the dictionary.
1 says a writer In the New York Tribune.
What does II matter. anyway, they ask.
whether we express an idea Just right.
SO long as We are understood
At the horse show. say the school teach
{ ers. ChiCagoans congratulate one another
on their ownership Of such lovely ex-
hiblts At the flower show they pass in
procession before the prize rose and re-
peatedly excIaim: Amt Il lovely" at
their chicken show il is. Really. isn't
that a lovely rooster While at the au-
tomobile exposition they gather In knots
and argue like this. Really now, that's
a lovely machine" The common express
sion OF delight produced by the sight Of
curly-haired pet. be It dog. cat. or child,
is. Amt he sweet7
They're All ~Banditsv
In referring TO lawiess men who live
through outright stealing Of the goods or
money Of others that acquire property
Illegally. II not altogether honestly, the
Chicagoan scarcely ever employs the
plebeisn term .'thief" Young and old
cultured and uncultured. men and wom-
en-. speak OF a common piCkpocket OF
footpad as a bandit" A Chicago man
viii relate an adventure IN language like
this: I vas on a street car ard seen q
bandit sreakin' I'D. / was on 20 him IN
a minute, but didn't let on Pretty soOn
f.a made pass 70 nip my sparkler. 1
swung and attempted 20 knock his block
Off. but the women yelled. and he duck
cd out and got away in the panic
The wind that ChicaEoans endure Is
fierce" so are some Of the costumes
seen in the State street parade. and so
IS a business Office strewn with papers;
II a judge has 20 climb FIVE fights OF
stairs 70 his court room because the ele-
vatOr baked. Il is a fierce task. a
cold bOtlie and hot bird are referred 20
as delicious. The same adjective Is fire.
quently applied to an automobile ride
as well as TO the diamond ring worn by
a society bride
Discussing this feature OF the language
OF her fellow -townsmen before the Chi
csgo English Club the other day. Miss
J. a. Wilcox. a teacher in the Robert
Waller High School, said: During
visit OF Edwin Arnold TO this country he
took A certain society woman 10 dinner
IN their conversation she spoke Of the
elegant establishment they were in, she
referred TO the elegant gown Of an opera
singer; she complinentted Mr.. Arnold on
his elegant reading before the clubwOm-
en-. and then she called his attention 10
the elegant pickle that had been served
20 her And thus we have IL al around
The girls think OF Rebecca IN TvanhOe'
as perfectly grand Of Rowena as 'aw-
fully sweet and OF Front de Boeuf as
fierce"
Ask the average Chicagoan II an Eng
lish joke is funny; the answer is. Sure
Show him a hippopotamus. an orang-
outang. or a ella monster az the circus.
and the odds are 100 10 ! that he viii
calculate, Funny thing. amt it, And
the next minute he may be Just as likely
u iSildEh, II lukiu4 tuS way peopie
rush TO hear Bryan. and then won't vote
for him
SIangs Just a 1'Fev.v
In pronunciation. as well as in the Sc
lection Of words. the Chicagoans are in a
class by themselves The other day a
ciubwcman was heard lamenting &c sad
fate of the poisoned Dough wager En-
press Of China man was heard ex-
planning in business Office that he wish
ed to raise money before the expiration
OF an "opsitiOn'' he had on a lot But It
is in the use Of slang that the English
Of Chicagoans becomes really picturesque.
in many parts Of this country people !
were unable TO guess what President /
Roosevelt meant when he emphasized |
an idea with that ancient word Of -'fraz- /
Zie, but ChicagOans would have under /
stood him thoroughly II the President /
had announced: I'VE had 'em licked 70 /
finish from the getaway II was a pipe /
a cinch- ] had it all doped out month /
ago, and slipped a tip TO William to cut |
out botherin' about II and to sEidoo to i
the wienerwursts. The people came across /
with the goods, and William loped home 4
They sloughed US on a couple OF dinky 1
State jobs. but We copped the big stakes. 1
and twas easy money
All these and many other points were \
brought out through a discussion begun 1
in recent meeting Of the Chicago Eng /
iish Club This is new organization. 4
composed OF several hundred members. /
principally teachers in normal. high. and /
grammar schools. although numerous col
lege professors belong to It. The presi- /
dent IS James F. Hosic, Of the chair Of i
English in the Chicago Normal School. +
Its inception IS traceable 10 a general 1
complaint among educators of the mis- /
use and abuse Of words in the Western I
city. Miss J. Rose Colby, teacher Of Eng /
lisd in the Illinois State Normal School. /
rang the tocsin for a crusade OF reform in 1
a paper which she prepared especially /
for the perusal Of educators. =
One OF the formal papers read before