Norwich bulletin., 1909-03-05
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
A Criticism.

MT. Editor: In these days of ad- vanced ideas and progress. along the lines of labor-s saving devices, and the many recent, discoveries in the arts and sciences. it would seem as though some method might be evolved that would rescue the present generation from the rut of innocuous desuetude In which they seem to revel, in their everyday use of the English language. Why are they so lamentably deficient in their mother tongue? ?' Why do their defcts in grammar and or thoepy still continue, to large extent similar to the conditions of half century ago? With the existence Of compulsory education and normal teachers, 1t might be deduced that this branch of knowledge should keep pace with other contemporary studies. This deficiency seems to be marked in a large percentage of the graduates from the public schools. It might be reasonable to assume that this in- equality of scholarship is in accord ance with the fact that a person can mingle with the business world and live to good old age and seldom utter ! a grammatical sentence; whereas, If the individual was unfamiliar with the four grand rules of arithmetic. exist | ence in commercial circles would be ' | 1t Is a survival of the Attest"
 Some people cherish the idea that a | person who has acquired the French | language from instruction from text books, cannot utilize it in conversing with French people in the factory vil- | lages. This. to certain extent may be | true, and if a fact, reversed conditions | in a Frenchman studying English so ! that he speaks 1t grammatieally, he | likewise, would find some difficulty in | talking with ordinary English speak | ing people. as for instance, taking the | word want" which some people use ili | lieu of was not" were not" and their | contractlons wasn't" weren't" etc. | These errors are innumerable and one | language Is at fault equally as much ] as the other, and therein lies the diffi- ] culty in conversation.
 1 Who has not heard the double nega- | tives style of speaking by scholars who
 have completed their education CD | such has 'tHe amt got nothing. ain't got no time to go nowhere. He ain't got no horse" etc., thereby using an excess of words as well as making | errors.
 The substitution of "ainr" for "is," sometimes is illustrated at auction ! sales in the proclamation of There Is a
 horse that ain't afraid of nothing; " a strenuous effort. surely, to convey | the idea that the horse Is exempt from fear. Probably the animal is the kind
 that don't get scat" The horse is also paradoxically warranted to be a | dead and down true puller," indicat-
 ing that he would be true, not consid- ering the contingency of being dead and down."
 A wagon Is desribed as having long | distance lex" Who has ever seen an
 lex" in the construction of a vehi- cle?
 can take your choice of 'ary' one" is also heard.
 This combination of ambiguity and verbiage sometimes interspersed with profanity. completes a vocabulary of
 overwhelming magnitude.
 In the line of orthepy, the pronun-
 citation of the word hospital, seems to
 down many people. and 1t Is seldom
 uttered without saying pit"
 The prevalence of an antipathy to l the broal sound of the vowel Il results
 in the production of "Toosday."
 It Is a well known fact that new
 wo1 ds, phrases and pronunciations are
 constantly appearing to meet the re- 1 quirements of the times, while others l are becoming obsolete. Some orthoep- ists allow of optional pronunciation. l The following words sometimes stag ger well-spoken persons: Lyceum, 1 museum, abdomen, cafe, debris calli- ope, Jugulaf, ueDuti nymeneal, llallan,
 and others that could be mentioned.
 Pupils in the public schools are
 taught to speak properly and to pro-
 nCunce correctly, but outside influences tend to counteract and neutralize their
 training. which causes them to lapse;
 is perhaps an explanation.
 The myriads of people who have
 associated together and passed away unconscious of these technicalities were
 perhaps as well off as those who un-
 derstood them, and this recalls to
 mind the old saw: 'Tf ignorance is
 bliss. 'tis folly to be wise" c. L. P. Norwich Town, March 3, 1909.