New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-08-30


their carly opportunities Of forma
education and high school and ever
college graduates arc MT excluded
are deficient In a knowledge Of definite
disable English. You have only @
glance over the letters that come &c
your desk In the morning mail. or &c
engage in conversation with this per
son or with that. 20 become amazed at
the average mans inability TO express
his thoughts clearly and correctly &c
say nothing about fexibly forcibiy anc
elegantly.
This deficient knowledge Of Eughsl
is By no means confined 10 any one
class Of persons. 60 into the private
Office OF many "a man holding AN mr.
Dortant executive or administrative po
Sition: engage Rim In conversation Ton
q fcW m,.cuts. and remark the WcfcC
tive manner bee which he is likely &c
clothc his thoughts. Go INTO the cor
rcspoudcucc division Of almos, any
large organization. which. AS NA'.N a'
rot. brides itself upon IT'S efficiency oil
management. and run your eyes ooWr
some Of the letters that lie on ccSS
for signature. Pick up "a copy OF a re.
port chat lies near az hand, and reao
the first page or two, taking note OF
the choice OF words, the turn OF
phrases. the construction Of sentences
and the division Of paragraphs. lr
short. 90 wherever men and women
have occasion 10 express, by word @
mouth or on the written page, thought
which the requirements OF bushes,
49, ef a| ID
YOU do not reach the same conclusion
times without number that there ls
something radically wrong as respects
the use OF English in the everyday
affairs or commerce.
Specific examples by the hundreds
might be given Of the fact that be-
ginning with the average stenogra.
uhcr and going clear up 90 the mead OF
the business enterprise itself. there ls
all along the line WofulN cclcien'
knowledge OF definite. practical Eng
Gsh. Many o. the most progressive
business organizations of the present
dav. bon sheer desperation. are Crap
Ming with the problem OF teaching
their employees how 90 use English
not cas- She is spoke but as u Us
spoken The Est includes three OF the
largest life Insurance companies lh ll'
United States. four Of the leading rail-
roads. and any number Of banks, manu-
featuring concerns. Importing hrms'
department stores. steamship COM
panics and the like. The odd thing
about this situation is that many OF
the persons found 10 need practical
training I'm English are high school
graduates. with considerable sprlnh-
ling Of college graduates.
Common Errors in EVERYDAY Speech.
Wherein does this weakness consist.
In the FIRST place. the everyday English
Of the average person is weak % re
spect 10 knowledge Of Grammar as ap-
nEed 10 daily use. How often do We
hear such expressions as: "l thought
{, was him." "Thc data is not avail
able" Myself and friend Will be
glad TO see YOU They supposed MN
10 be l." 81 am sure that 10 is US who
arc AZ fault" "Wh no are YOU going 20
give that to-" "Who were YOU sitting
beside ." Eve recommend only those
who we think viii pass the eNamlna-
ton" ono one would do such thlng
unless they thought lt would be 20
their advantage" Everybody ought
10 mind their own business Ihe.
carriage rides easily Il feel badly.
"Of two evils. choose the least lie
is the most able Of any member OF the
Office force" Your plan is different
than mine" I'VE win be pleased 20
welcome YOU "f J would go 10
Maine. would ] find good bathing :
where diC you say Mount Mansfield
was?' Being absent from the meet
ing. 7 cannot tell you what was done.
Il exnected TO have met you to-mor-
were lost "JOhn. as well as James,
vrore once fremen." you can take a
weeks vacation Il YOU wish "Do
look like J would agree 10 such q
plan p" These are only few OF q
thousand and one grammatical errors
which come 20 ones notice all the
time.
In the second place. the average per
sons knowledge Of English is deficient
in rcspect 70 sentence structure. How
many times q day do you come upon
the long. rambling sentence the SEN
tence that contains two, three, four OF
even five separate thoughts Loosely
connected by means Of "and' or but
or some other conjunctive word? Anc
then there is the stereotyped form Of
sentence. Ii is as II most correspon
dents had laboriously hewn out two Oh
three kinds Of sentences, of the con
struction OF which they are certain
and then. in order to avoid makinl
mistakes. had determined. for the SAKE
Of safety, 20 stick 10 those types. The
result is. OF course, that everything
they say. being cast IN the same Hn(
OF sentence mould. is mo0Otonous anC
stiff in expression. The fact tha
clearness and attractivcness Of style
are promoted Dy AeXibiGty iu The
choice Of words and In the structure
OF sentences seems TO be a thing un
known.
In the third place. the knowledge O.
English Of the average person is veal
in respect 20 paragraph structure. u
almost any business report that come
20 your desk YOU viii find tina The
paragraphs arc either short am,
choppy. or so iorg as 20 contain Oh,
partial development OF several topics
or what the topic sentence is or OF it
functions. there seems 90 be no knowl
edge. So far as the logical develop
ment OF central paragraph topic B
concerned. YOU viii nave 20 look "a Ion
time before you come upon any articl
or letter written with due regard @
unity and Conference. proportion am
emphasis.
\ The only kind Of knowledge OF Eng
NJ lsh worth having for practical use +
Che kind that is unconsciously en-
ma DENITC