Evening star., 1924-09-03
THIS AND THAT
BY C. E. TRACEWELL.

Next to the ladies getting their
hair bobbed, the question of how to
describe the result Is the most press
ing.
In countless newspaper Offices
ceaseless argument has gone on for
the past six months as to the best
form of word combination to state the
case in relation to a girl with bobbed
hair.
The argument has spread into hun
dreds Of homes, where those interest
ed in the proper use of the English
language have discussed the Ques-
tion.
Like most arguments, there is
something to be said on both sides of
the matter, or, in this particular case,
upon all three sides of the question.
Most persons, however, are not
grammarians either by instinct or
training, SO that their efforts to elu-
cidate this question, either to their
own satisfaction or that of others, are
not very Illuminating.
~ X X
It is interesting, therefore, to know
that one of the leading lexicographers
Government Printing Office both are
in favor of the use Of bob-haired" to
describe a girl or woman who has
succumbed to the latest decree of
fashion in hair dressing.
DIR. Frank ii. Fizetelly. managing
editor Of the New Standard Die
tionary and famous photographer of
the Literary Digest, writes:
Why there should be any discus
sion on three perfectly good ex-
pressions 1 do not know, unless it be
that we are all suffering from some
form Of complex that will not enable
US to see things correctly.
I'm the sentence A bob-haired
girl the term 'bob-haired' is used as
compound adjective qualifying girl
Here the word bob is an adjective
which has been in use with the sense
of cut short for more than 200
years-'bob' is a synonym of 'bobbed'
| which antedates 1t, for 'bobbed' for
cut short dates from 1858. Just as
| we speak of "a shorthorned cow we
may speak Of bob haired girl The
West-African buffalo is commonly
known as the short-horned buffalo
We have also 'short-horned grass
hopper and 'short-sighted persons
and policies we have had with US for
years.
LAS to the second form of express
sion. 'bobbed hair girl this is an in
version Of the expression "a girl with
bobbeo hair" Now, inasmuch as bob
is an adjective and may be hyphe-
mated with haired 'bobbed'. also be-
4 h4 h,-y,h n ,~rt II
! with hair and the two expressions
remain perfectly good English: but 1
am free to confess that 1 prefer the
! first to the second. Neither of them.
| however, is wrong. By the same
| token, if haired is permissible in the
first sentence, it is equally permissi-
| BILE in the third sentence, 'bobbed-
! haired girl
The adjective haired dates back
to the Chaucerian or late middle Eng
lish period of English literature. We
had had black haired 'brown-hair-
! ed 'golden-haired,' long-haired,
| 'short-haired damsels, even as We
| have had .one-horse shays' when we
really meant 'one-horsed shays.' OF
course, you remember the old Squib
about the word 'unique'-unis. one:
equus, horse. and 'one-horse towns
we have spoken of automatically for
years.
IF we follow the analogy of the
word bob tailed a form, that dates
from about 1900, then We would use
the plain adjective bob in preference
| to the longer form 'bobbed.
X X x
John A. Cotter. referee of the proof
room at the Government Printing
Office, says:
In answer to your letter regard
$H nf n nh~h q od
GIRL etc, 1 am writing to say that
l believe that "a bob-haired girl is
the correct form, for the following
reasons:
First The definition of the Stand
ard Dictionary for bob is To cut
short; as TO bob a horses tail or
name; and its meaning of 'bobtailed
is Having the tail bobbed, or cut
short, as a horse.
Arguing by analogy, therefore. a
girl who had her hair cut short would
be called 'bob-haired girl
Second. While / have given the
determining reason for my opinion, it
is strengthened by euphony, which in
the end will decide the form used.
You eliminate the ed which in con-
junction with the word haired mars
the smoothness Of the expression. OF
course, it is unusual to use the in
finitive or indicative form of verb
as an adjective. Since the Standard
uses it in connection with 'bob-tailed
horse it is not obligatory for lay
| man to defend it"
There you have it, first from man
who probably has the largest vocabu-
larry in the world, and second, from
an official who deals with mooted
questions and fine points for the
great Government print shop.
AS far apart as New York and
Washington, ii speaks volumes for
good usage that both are in favor of
the expression "a bob-haired girl"
Women, of course, will be more in
terested in the question:: To bob, or
not to bob. Naturally! Women and
girls are ever practical, so the debate
as to usage will not interest them as
| much as the selection of the proper
beauty parlor or barber shop.
Yet usage, in this as in other mat
ters, is of intense interest, for the
way we speak of a thing often de-
termines our like or dislike, and our
way of regarding the whole question.
| To me it always seemed that the use
| of the petty term flu for a serious
and insiduous disease was great
mistake. as it tended to minimize the
aff1iction in the minds of many, and
thereby prevent early treatment
There is this much to be said for
gh-sounding names, that they DO
| lend a certain dignity to any subject.
"Oh, it's just the fiu." was f1ippant
| mistake, both from a psychological
| and medical standpoint Never should
this illness be spoken of, either by
| word of mouth or in print, other than
as Influenza"
Thousands of husbands would well
come their wives as bob-hatred beau
ties (to use DR.. vizetelly's choice) If
the controversy were taken out of the
subject. One of the ways Of doing