Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1916-08-10
SUGGEST CHANGES
IN our SPELLING
Words, Like Women's Skirts,
to Be Made Shorter.
MOVEMENT GROWS RAPIDLY

Some of the Simple Words That
Scholars, Schools and Colleges Have
Been Asked to Adopt-Reform Ad-
vocates Add Several Famous Per-
sons to Rank.
We're it not for the fact hat the sim
plified spelling board has retained the
services of a newspaper representative
it might still be premature to an
nounce that the board held it's tenth
annual meeting in New York the other
day.
The number of universities, colleges
and normal schools that have taken up
simplified spelling has increased from
eighty-seven to IA, representing $780,
600 professors and students.
Still heavier fatalities are recorded
among the newspapers and periodicals
throughout the country. The board has
used it's light field artillery, consisting
of tho, altho, thru, turnout, thoro,
thoroly, thorofare, program, prolog, cat
alog, Dedagog and Decalog, with such
telling effect that $50 publications, with
a total circulation of 100000. have
surrendered, SO far as those twelve
words are concerned, equivalent to &C.
100000 words. The National Educa-
ton association has been using these
spellings since 1898, thereby saving
t%hirty-one valuable letters of the alpha
bet every time all twelve words are
called into action.
As the Styles Co..
AS regards the spring styles, the
board predicts that words, like wom-
ems skirts, will be worn shorter this
season. This is said to have no direct
relation to the European war or the
scarcity Of dyestuffs. That it is much
more farreaching than that is shown
by the fact that even proper names
are being done over. Melville Dewey
has already trained down to Melvil
Dewey, and it is 1umored that Brander
Matthews, chairman of the boards
trustees, will hereafter answer only to
the name of Brandr MathuS.
But, of course, the simpli1ication of
the spoken word takes care of itself.
It's the simplification of the written
word that's so difficult. With the board
this will always be part of it's untin-
ished business.
Whether certain useless and cumber-
some letters are to be skipped, clipped.
stripped, dropped or ripped from some
Of the most respectable words in the
English language is a problem that
adds many difficulties to the boards
work during the year AS n general
rule they are. This is in keeping with
the boards belief that words Should be
spelled as they are tripped from the
tongue.
Thus the board advises s%choolteacll-
ers and college professors to let their
students-in their written work. of
~course-make use of such simplifica-
tons as curry, abandond, doctrin, coud,
harth, helth, fotOgraf, shall and will.
These, the board points out. ar dis
%tinguisht from a large number Of 9TH
er words already successfully operated
upon in that they ar not yet fully ac-
copied.
The board has reserved most Of its
advice for what ar termed the scools.
These scools are urged to make friends
with all such simplified spcllings as
have receivd the endorsement of die
%tionaries, biologists, English scolars
and educators in Great Britain and
America. An activ campaign is being
waged in this respect, and the results
Of the last two years ar said to be
astonishing. No doubt they ar.
Among the shorter and uglier spring
styles are listed adj, commiXt, dasht,
dipt, domicil, drfpt, droopt, dropt. ex-
prest, fixt, kist, mkt, ocher, pedo-
baptist, possest, polyp, prest. prompt,
rapt, ript, sipt, skipt, slipt. snapt,
slept, stopt, %strest, stript, tipt, topt,
tost, vext, wasn't, whipt. winkt, wisht