Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-16
LACKSSWEARW0RDS
Where Esperanto Is Deficient
for Everyday Use.
HOW'S KONnAMNIJU CHIN?
That's a Literal Rendition Of Com
mon 'tCussin' " Phrase.
NO SESSION OF CONGRESS
Delegates Not Attending Sectional
Meetings Are Seeing Sights
Of the Capitol.
NO SESSION OF CONGRESS

A spluttering noise. 6ounofnG something
like the impoteRt wheeze Of a tugboat
whistle afflicted with acute laryngitis,
forced its way through the bushy, black
whiskers Of a tall. angular man up at
the Arlington Hotel this morning and
tingled the circumambient air.
The Esperantists gathered about turned
in wonderment. One of the secretaries
reached for the telephone. A colored bell
boy, who had been standing in front OF
the tall, angular man, left the room hur-
riedly. 1t was a tense moment The
tall mans mouth twitched and again the
incoherent splutter filed the room Then
a strange thing happened. The tall man
tossed back his head and burst into a
laugh which reverberated down the cor
ridors and gave the telephone operator
out in the office a nervous shock.
Merely Trying to Swear.
There's another reason why Esperanto
should become universal" said he when
the spasm had passed, as the startled dele-
gates gathered around him. THAT bell
boy said something that made me SO mad
I wanted to swear. I've been trying to
do all my talking around here in Esperanto
and tried to think Of some way to swear
in It. That was when stammered and
made that funny noise. ] remember that
I'd have to invent some sort OF cuss
word, but before I could do that my
anger had passed and there wasn't any
necessity for swearing. It's a great idea
all right. The preachers ought to take 1t
up
All OF which added to the enliven-
ment Of an otherwise dull morning.
What the tall man said was quite cor
rect There are no formal oaths In Es-
peranto. The language is too new.
to a language. They are evolutions.
The Esperantist is. therefore. obliged
to create swear words when the tele-
phone girl gives him the wrong num-
Der or the waiter spills the gravy in
his lap AT the present time this is
the expression has been properly for
mulated.
Fills the Mouth Well.
One OF the prominent Esperantists vol
unteered to show how the most common
OF all English swear phrases, "d-n 1t,
would have to be expressed In Esperanto.
A literal rendition would be "kondamnigu
ghin." which Is a bit awkward, to say
the least. Another form. and the one
which will eventually come into common
use. SO says this authority. would be
"malbenu CHIN which literary means
the opposite of bless you
I'm a golf player" said this gentle
man, land / know that 1 find myself
saying 'malbenu CHIN every time ! make
q fozzle. That's what makes me think
that ii will eventually become the popu-
lar expression of this sort"
1t has also been learned that Esperanto
already has its own erotic literature.
Mingled among the various text books
which are on sale i'm the exhibition room
are said to be several novels originally
written in the language which make some
of the early English and later French
noveiists' brain children read Ike the
little Rollo books.
There was no general session Of the con-
gress this morning. Instead NUMBER oi
group, or section" meetings were held
In the main building Of George Washing
ton University.
Language Committee Meets.
The most important Of these meetings
was that OF the language committee.
which occupies the same relative position
TO Esperanto as the French Academy
does toward French. This last meeting
was presided over by DIR. Mybs Of Ger
many. and was attended by DIR. Zamen-
hof, who spoke at length. Rector Boirac
of DiJon University. the president or the
last international congress and the chair
man Of the language committee, sent q
long report, which was read and as
cussed.
Other group meetings were attended by
lawyers. engineers. railFoad
men and trained nurses. There was 9
Roman Catholic conference In charge OF
Rev Claudius Colas Of France, and a
meeting Of Freethinkers under the iead.
ership Of DR.. b. F. Schubert of this city.
This afternoon DIR. Zamenhof and the
officers OF the association, together with
the official Representatives Of the foreign
will pay ofiicial calls They
will visit the acting secretaries OF state.
war and navy. A visit Will also be PAID
to the ONCE Of the commissioners OF edu-
cation.
A large number OF the delegates are
enjoying an outing At Great Falls this
afternoon. Tonight they will attend a
performance Of "As You Like IL wnicn
Is to be given in Esperanto on the
grounds Of the Bristol School by the
Hickman Players. Last night an OK.
cursion down the river was conducteo
under the auspices Of the local. COM
mittee.
The next regular session OF the Con-
gress will be held tomorrow morning at
3 o'clock in the main auditorium OF the
Arlington.