The sun., 1918-08-04
THE BETTER SPEECH CLUB.
Some Of the Everyday Oatrases Upon
the Language.


are tho Pure Speech League Of London
and the Cleaner Speech League Of Chi
cago? Alas, echo answers, Where? Al
though the lives OF most Of the asso-
Citations formed in the past for the Inn
provement Of speech have been short
let us hope that the recently founded
Better Speech Club will have a long
lease Of life. for every effort made that
leads us away from the III kempt
sloppy and characterization unloveliness
of workaday English Ia deserving OF
hearty support.
Some Of us mouth our sentences as
ours mouth their bones. Such express
sions as He done It," II seen It,
Them things" You was" are heard
on every side. Drank" and drunk
are constantly misused. Like Ia q
frequent substitute for "as IT," and "feeI
badly In used. apparently with meticu-
lous care. when feel bad Is better
English. Why do some Of US use the Scots
law term proven when one invaria-
bly, means to convey the sense OF the
English word proved? Why employ
such a form as goes on to say" when
says" IL just as good II not infinitely
better? Why say Mr.. Brown went on
to say" when one means "Mr. Brown
continued? Why in the world prefer
to talk Of "fght'n'" and "shoot'n'" OF
OF "fish'n'" and "hunt'n'" when by
carefully enunciating the final syllable
of these words one can overcome one
OF the worse phases of slovenliness in
speech? The man who trims his words
by imperfect utterances and clips their
final syllables thereby tacitly admits
his preference for the vulgar tongue.
We have evidence on every side that
there Is room for Improvement In the
present day usage Of English speech
not merely by citizens OF allen birth, but
by men and women of American and
British birth and breeding. We are
VIGOROUSLY neglected. Of our speech and
SO much We scorn the crowd that II the
BY chance go RICH, we purpossly &c
wrong.
Good English is learned easily and
rapidly by hearing 1t spoken and by read.
ing it, To be good 1t does not always have
to conform to the rules codifed by the
grammarians. and It is not imperatively
necessary that IL should do so. One
who is a master OF language pays little
attention to these rules. Such a one
was William. Shakespeare. To him we
owe much that Is good in English and
little that Is bad. Notwithstanding the
latter fault, he had the happy knaci
Of writing in such way that he was
commonly understood. One example OF
his freedom from grammatical restraint
is preserved to us in the following words
which he placed in the mouth of a Duke
They are taken from "As You Like II,
act III, scene THE Forest OF Arden
! Here feel We but the penalty OF Adam
The seasons difference: as the Icy FAM
| And churlish Gliding OF the winter
wind,
which. when It bites and blows upor
my body.
Even I'll I shrink with cold, smile
and say.
This Is no hsttery these are counsellor
That feelngly persuade me what am
If the reader Of these lines be a gram
marian, let him make them conform
to the rules of his grammar without re
sorting to explanations that this Or thai
is wanting. or that that was meant. II
he can. No matter how sternly one
may repres3 the misuse of English. i
Is impossible to correct all the errors
that are sanctioned by the exception.
| that prove the grammarians rule, ant
that are established by usage. because
these are now so firmly fixed that they
have become accepted idioms. To &C
qulre an accurate knowledge OF thes,
II is necessary to maintain a continu
Gus right hand friendship with a dssl
dictionary. the practical value of which
| is immeasurable.
A casual or an intimate knowledge o.
| the science OF grammar is not inds
pensable to any one who would speal
| English correctly. 1t Is desirable. o.
course. because through this knowledge
bne Is able to dissect speech and to ex
plain the relations of words to one an
other. but It is not a sine qua non
Children. who never give thought e
grammar before they speak, often speal
excellent English. That there are som'
who will Ill use their mother tongue
goes without saying. Evil communica
| tons still corrupt good grammar In tn,
home or on the street, and they will
continue TO do so. notwithstanding al
| the steps that may be taken to proven
them from SO doing.
BY associating with persons who
| speak correctly one learns almost i'm
perceptibly to do the same thing. By
| reading the best books. the master
pieces OF our tongue. one famil!arize:
oneself with the forms that are accepted
| as standards.
Much modern English that is strict,
| grammatical Is starched English. 81
| stifr that 1t has lost Its Inherent quail
| ity. that Elasticity which makes ou
| language one of the easiest into which
to mould thought. But stiffness is no
| the only fault. There Is. In addition 4
| this, a tendency to give to words values
| that they do not command. To wha
| influences are We to trace the viola
| tions done to word values nowadays? Il
| 1t due to the contempt for classic learn
| ing that has manifested itself In som,
parts OF the United States during tn,
| la st twenty years? Or is it because tn,
world Of letters has been overrun b!
| hordes born to use the shovel rathe
than the pen. who. in the words o
Pope. forget. when they knock. tina
there's nobody at home"
Improvement Of speech II It is TO b,
| effective must. like charity. begin II
| the home for the home, not the news
paper OF the book, not the school o
| college. IS the true source OF good Eng
lish. The others are the homes valued