Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1914-02-21
ALL IN The ACCENT
Words on Which Common Usage
and Dictionaries Disagree.
LINCOLN AND LIEN AND LION.
An Amusing Verbal Duel In the Su-
prene Court In Which the Lean
Lawyers Wit Came Into Playa
Blind Mans Criticism of Irving.


There are many words so habitualiy
mispronounced that the correct accent
O. e. the accent favored by the die
tionaries) would appear wrong if any
body used it Ia current conversation
This, Of course, means that common
usages have overriden the dictionary
and established new standard which
the dictionary of the future will have
to respect, Just as those Of today
respect the pronunciation Of 'lien'
that they rejected in the past Such
words are cocaine and ptomaine, which
the dictionary Of the present recog
nzes as trisylables, thus cocaine,
pto-maine.
Anyone familiar with French--a Ian
guage that may be said 20 possess no
accented syllables- understand
Taine's complaint about London res
taurants that wheueyer he ordered
potatoes the waiter Invariably served
him With buttered toast
And of course it was another French
man who made jest of matrimony
by prOnouncng it ma-trim-ony.
Mark Lemon records a story about
Lord Chancellor Eldon and Sir Arthur
Plgott. The first always pronounced
tie word "lien' in two syllatles as If
it was spelled lien; the latter pro
nounced il in one syllable, lean Just
rs it would be pronounced in ordinary
conversation ON tits difference Jekyll
wrote an ep.Tam
Sir Arthur, Sir arthur. why what DO you
mean
by saving the chaueenors lion is lean?
DO you think that lis kitchens $50 bad as
all that
That nothing within it VIII ever get fat?
Lord Eidons pronunciation Of this
legal term was not unknown at one
time in America. Wlt4oss an auecdote
about Lincoln He once appeared ia
the supreme court in a case involving
a lien upon a piece Of property.
The presidiul Judge was noted alike
for obatinacy and pedantry. Lincoln
referring to the Zen, pronounced ii
lean" This visiby affected his
honor
Lien. Mr. Lincoln he gently re
monstrated.
Very well, said Lincoln. But u
little later he forgot himself and out
came the pronunciation lean
Once more he was corrected by the
judge
AS you please" retorted Lincoln,
somewhat nettled
Not as | please came from the
bench THAT is the pronunciation
favored by Webster and 10y Worcester.
1t so obtains at Westminster hall and
also at our own supreme court IN
Washington"
Lincoln had now recovered his con
stitutional good humOr. Bowling to
the court. he said; Certainly, your
honor. certainly ! only desire to say
that II my client had known there was
lion ON his farm for so long time
l am sure he would not have stayed
there even long enough to bring this
suit, and l should not have had the
pleasure of appearing before this hon
Orable court"
or Henry Irving we are told that &c
heroic perseverance and hard study he
added almost chidlike eagerness tc
adopt any suggested improvement in
his manner Of delivery. 4 blind mar
once offered an Illuminating criticism
on his Shylock. The sensitive ear OF
the sichtIess auditor detected fault
In Iryings opening line:
Three thousand ducats-wen'
Il hear no sound Of the Insurer in
that" was the blind mans suhse-
quent comment to Irving himself, 1T
is said with the reflective air Of man
TO whom money means very ittle.'
The justice OF the criticism was
acknowledged 10y Irving lie revised
his reading not only Of the first line
hut Of several others a which he now
saw that he had mot been enough OF
the mouey!endcr
George Eliot in "M.Jdlemarch" sup
plies classic instance OF the value
of the accent When Lyudgate, sore
distressed at the future Of al his pro
feS~ional and financial plans. COMES 10
his wife Tor sympathy, she meets him
with a." query,
"Whag can doE"
Whereon the author comments;
That little speech of four words like
SO many others in all languages. is ta.
pahle II expressing all states of mind.
from helpless dimness TO exhaustive
arsumeutatlye perception. from the
oompieteSt self deyoting fellowship 70
the NOSE neutral alootneSS Rosa
mund'S thin utterauce threw into the
words What can | do;' rs much
neutrality as they could hold. They
fell like a mortal chill "a Lyndgate's
reused tenderness.
One Of Du Mauier's best cartoons in
Punch shows deferential man of in
quiring mind propounding this question
TO a professional beauty.
Amt you tired OF hearing people
say That is the beautiful Miss Bel
sizeT"
"0h. no the professional bednltv re
plies. Il am getting tired of hearing