Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-12-07
Miss Florence Minis Celebrates
"Good English" Week by #
Giving Her impress
sions of Slang.
Dear Advertiser:

IDear Advertiser:
For lack of a better subject, G
shall devote my remarks this week te
slang. lGood English week has jus!
passed and perhaps / am a little late
in celebrating it, but l have to writee
when the thoughts come to me-. re;
gardless of the passing of days. AS
a matter of fact, every week should
be good English week from the time
we start to school.
The teacher of Spanish, himself 4
Spaniard at the University Prepara-
tory School here, has a small grand.
son, Billy, not quite year old, to tSo
whom he is teaching Spanish,l while
the rest of the family endeavor to
teach him English. The small grand
son, converses with his grandfather
in Spanish and Immediately turns
and talks to someone else in English.
1 predict that the child will grow TO
be cultured gentleman, knowing the
musical language of Southern Europe
and the more extensive western
tongue.
Youth is the time to begin to teach
person good English, OF good Span
ish or good anything else, and the
home, more than the school, is the
place where the impression for prop
er or improper speech is more indeh-
bly, made. Of this fat / am thorough
ly convinced. l suspect that had las
many unusual and Varied words. in
my vocabulary when / started offSto
college as I have learned there and
since.
The subject of slang came up at
the breakfast table this morning and
1 entered into heated conversation,
with the result that l went to. school
planning i1snay heart that if any!stu-
|dentscame to my studio and nthe
course of a lesson used slang, That
they should not leave without being
told of their grievous error. Then
forthwith, as it ever is: in life, ] found
myself during the latter part Of Fhes ] BE-
mi mofafT & q 81 ging "a 1ittffgs play let IN
which one girl represented an ex-
tremely modern girl and therefore,
used slang,, and nothing but slang. l
heard myself repeating to her just
the way it should go with all the Tilt
ing lingo of the. streets. So I started
down the long road that is paved with
good intentions.
At dinner tonight 1 heard myself
glibly using certain slang phrase
and stopped short, surprised and hurt
that / had so deceived myself. But
that is ever the way.
Slang is the line of least resistance.
It expresses what we want to say. 1t
saves us from using our brains. It
shows paucity of words, "a crying
need for better vocabularies.
After a while the power to dis
criminate between slang and words of
good repute leaves one, the Gelicacy
of perception in speech departs and
Like Samson, we know not that this
strength we once possessed is depart
ed from us.
- Speech is the means, the technique,
through which we accomplish the aim
of making our thoughts understood
by our fellow men. If the time ever
comes when we can read the other
persons mind, then we can dispense
with speech, but not until then.
Happy is the man who can have
three words at his command with
which to express one thought and can
take either one of the three for CIV
en- occasion.
The person who has only slang is
handicapped. He can never be dis
tinctive. His speech is apt to be but
replica of his ne;ghbor's.
Since 1 am not an English teacher,
I can very easily champion the cause
of what I consider to, be, by far, the
most important subject that any
American child can study, his moth
er tongue, English.
FLORENCE MINIS.
Tonkawa, Okla.
Nov. 20, 1921.
We have the most beautiful dis
play of Fine Candies ever shown in