Woman's enterprise., 1922-02-10
GOOD ENGLISH.
By Vallie NJ. Seitz.

J. Hartley Manners in "The Wooing
of Eve" "You should always think
in word pictures. After all, English
is beautiful language if you take
time to put the proper words in the
proper place. Because we are Ameri-
can, that's no reason Our vocabulary
should be limited to, gee whiz', but
ted in, on the level, go wan, beat
it., come across, lis it?'
If every writer, whether dramatist,
short story, or journalist would only
take more pains in choosing the right
word, as did Sentimental Tommy
in Barrie's novel of the same name,
we would produce a more lasting lit
erature than we have at present.
De Maupassan, Dumas, kipling, o.
Henry and all the writer's whose work
lives after them, were careful "to put
the proper words in the place." they
did not place underworld slang in the
mouth of a gentleman unless it was
to show his real character. But
many of the current stories unfortu-
nately have "muckers" using Ian
guage that would be a credit to some
high brow professor of English, while
members of the "four hundred" have
a supply of slang that would make
the worst touch of the East side pale
with envy.
All writer's would do we'll if they
pasted over their desks the scrap of
dialogue from "The Wooing of Eve,"
and then ponder over it.
There are friendly words and un-
friendly words. There are words
that are better known for what they
DO not mean than for what they do
mean. There are glad words and
somber words; bright words and dull
words, stimulating words and de-
pressing words; words of character
and words which are mere dictionary
foundlings. If you would make your
meaning clear and leave in the mind
of another just the mental impression
you desire, you must choose your
words with care and discretion.
correctness of expression is Sc
cured by not many rules but by the
constant application of a few essen
tial ones, until correct speech be-
comes habit. Readiness of express
sion is acquired through study of a
few simple language principles, with
much practice in the application.
Power to express the same thought or
fact in different ways will enable a
person to give the desired quality to
his language.
A few minutes spent each day in
conscientious effort to express the
same thought in variety of ways
will greatly increase ones facility in
the use of language and give him a |
command of words or expressions to
suit specific needs. A strong durable
wall cannot be built with ill-shaped
bricks. Neither can a good sentence
be made of poorly chosen words. It
is the unskilled writer or speaker who
uses the words which are most ready.
Few have the gift of always selecting
the right word. "Finance' is a gen.
eral word; "Banking' is a specific
term. One should learn to use not
only specific nouns but specific verbs
and adjectives and adverbs. To the ]
bare names Of things adjectives give |
color, form, size, quality; just as
adverbs add to verbs the time, place,
degree of action or existence.
They are descriptive words, the colors
IN the verbal picture. A person of
limited vocabulary shows greatest
poverty Of speech in the small num-
Der Of adjectives at his command. He
uses few shades of color in his word
picture. His descriptions are CON-
The adjective funny" for instance.
IS made to do duty in many places
where any one of a dozen of its
brethren would be better employed.
This is funny weather., "He acts
[unny", 1T seems funny, They're
not here; how funny, and all the time
there are such exact descriptive words
as "unusual", "peculiar", strange,
'odd', fantastic, "queer", "ludi.
IRONS" "nuoorU .+o,J;n III