Metropolis weekly gazette. (Metropolis, Ill.) 1???-19??, 1914-06-05
NOW OUT OF USE
Fine Old Words That No Longer
Are Heard.
"Pernlckety- Has Become obooisfs,
With Many Other colloquaIIsms--
Expressions Gave Test %
Conversation.


land a number of colloquial express
sions and pithy phrases which they did
not fail to use on proper occasions.
Many Of these have gone out OF use
or are heard SO rarely that they are
marked obsolete" In the dictionaries.
The immense increase of reading.
which used 10 be confined to the Bible
and Pilgrims Progress" has brought
the everyday speech OF New England
ers to a dull uniformity except per
haps IN remote districts.
IL Is calculated that every person
reads on the average 1000 words
day and this can hardly fail 10 infin-
ence his vocabulary toward what IL
considered proper in print and tho dis
use OF words essentially eolloaaial.
We rarely hear the old words De.
scribing personal appearance or man
ner, like -blggety. uppety. 'meech-
ing and the like, nor that excellent
word. pernickety." used b. one som.
an TO Indicate the manner OF another
who was little snappish and partica.
lar about trifies sPernickety" diaap-
peared with hundreds OF other words
about the time that the last passenger
pigeon left New England How much
more expressive II IL than the normal
school teachers equivalent. suffering
from nervous depression"
"Peart.r entirely distinct from pert
and implying no egotlsm. Il not entire
ly out OF use "Trapses 10 occasionally
heard. but an equally strong verb, 10
''scrooge," meaning 10 crowd or press.
is substantially obsolete. Proverbial
expressions like dark AS q pocket.
TO run like sixty" or be Is not all
there" have a more tenacious life
than the old yernaculnr words. but
they. except IN the mouths Of persons
fond OF odd expressions. are used iess
than formerly.
Mrs. Stowe had a full command oil
these expressive folk words. and her
Sam Lawson used them with excellent
effect Rose Terry Cooke Was = past
mistress OF New England colloquisms
and never failed To appropriate one
that she heard Walter Scott. q
course, was unmatched IN rendering
the Scottish yernacniar. which. indeed.
was his mother tongue.
But modern writer's who try 10 put
on paper tho speech Of pioneers or
western miners and cowboys fail 10
catch the spirit OF vernacuiar speech.
They make Il all slang and artificial
distortions and bring IN oddities. some
OF which may be funny. but are entire
ly forced and unnatural The bad ex-
ample was set By Bret Harfe. whose
CalIfornians talk IN a dialect never
used By fronfiersmen. because plain
men are never affected In language.
Our own Mark Twain followed Bret
Harte in this regard. though his dia.
iect Ia far more like human speech.
To hit II exactly writer would
have To invent iifeliks character. be-
cause pecuiiaritiea OF speech are based
on character but TO invent charac-
ter and give II the attributes Of life
is the task OF genius. 30 II In not to be
wondered 1T that most modern dialect
writing IL artificial and depends on
grotasque spelling But the strength
OF yernacuiar talk lies In the words
more than In the pronunciation
To return TO the point. IL seems .
pity that so many OF our old New
England words are passing into OBJ
iiyion- They put things right before
the mind and gave n zesf TO talk II
misses IN the mouth OF the college
professor. You cannot combine the
old force and modern correctness,