Slips of Speech | Page 3

light fantastic toe," "the cup that cheers but does not inebriate," "in the arms of Morpheus," "the debt of nature," "the bourne whence no traveler returns," "to shuffle off this mortal coil," "the devouring element," "a brow of alabaster."
Pet Words
Avoid pet words, whether individual, provincial, or national in their use. Few persons are entirely free from the overuse of certain words. Young people largely employ such words as delightful, delicious,
exquisite, and other expressive adjectives, which constitute a kind of society slang.
Overworked Expressions
Words and phrases are often taken up by writers and speakers, repeated, and again taken up by others, and thus their use enlarges in ever-widening circles until the expressions become threadbare. Drop them before they have reached that state. Function, environment, trend, the masses, to be in touch with, to voice the sentiments of-- these are enough to illustrate the kind of words referred to.
Very Vulgar Vulgarisms
No one who has any regard for purity of diction and the proprieties of cultivated society will be guilty of the use of such expressions as yaller for yellow, feller for fellow, kittle for kettle, kiver for cover, ingons for onions, cowcumbers for cucumbers, sparrowgrass for asparagus, yarbs for herbs, taters for potatoes, tomats for tomatoes, bile for boil, hain't for ain't or isn't, het for heated, kned for kneaded, sot for sat or set, teeny for tiny, fooling you for deceiving you, them for those, shut up for be quiet, or be still, or cease speaking, went back on me for deceived me or took advantage of me, a power of people for a great many
people, a power of money for great wealth, a heap of houses for many houses, lots of books for many books, lots of corn for much corn or large quantities of corn, gents for gentlemen, and many others of a similar character.
CHAPTER II
Choice of Words
Our American writers evince much variety in their graces of diction, but in the accurate choice of words James Russell Lowell and William Cullen Bryant stand out conspicuous above the rest. So careful and persistent was the latter, that during the time that he was editor of The Evening Post, of New York City, he required the various writers upon that paper to avoid the use of a long list of words and expressions which he had prepared for them, and which were commonly employed by other papers. This list was not only used, but enlarged by his successors.
Strive to cultivate the habit of observing words; trace their delicate shades of meaning as employed by the most polished writers; note their suggestiveness; mark the accuracy with which they are chosen. In this way your mind will be kept on the alert to discover the beauties as well as the blemishes of all the thought pictures that are presented, and your vocabulary will be greatly enlarged and enriched.
BRYANT'S LIST OF OBJECTIONABLE EXPRESSIONS
Above, and over, use more than. Artiste, use artist. Aspirant. Authoress Beat, use defeat. Bagging, use capturing. Balance, use remainder. Banquet, use dinner or supper. Bogus. Casket, use coffin. Claimed, use asserted. Collided. Commence, use begin. Compete. Cortege, use procession. Cotemporary, use contemporary. Couple, use two. Darkey, use negro. Day before yesterday, use the day before yesterday. Debut. Decease, as a verb. Democracy, applied to a political party. Develop, use expose. Devouring element, use fire. Donate. Employe. Enacted, use acted. Endorse, use approve. En route. Esq. Graduate, use is graduated. Gents, use gentlemen. Hon. House, use House of Representatives. Humbug. Inaugurate, use begin. In our midst. Item, use particle, extract, or paragraph. Is being done, and all similar passive forms. Jeopardize. Jubilant, use rejoicing.
Juvenile, use boy. Lady, use wife. Last, use latest. Lengthy, use long. Leniency, use lenity. Loafer. Loan, or loaned, use lend or lent. Located. Majority, use most. Mrs. President. Mrs. Governor. Mrs. General. Mutual, use common. Official, use officer. Ovation. On yesterday. Over his signature. Pants, use pantaloons. Parties, use persons. Partially, use partly. Past two weeks, use last two weeks. Poetess. Portion, use part. Posted, use informed. Progress, use advance. Quite, when prefixed to good, large, etc. Raid, use attack. Realized, use obtained. Reliable, use trustworthy. Rendition, use performance. Repudiate, use reject or disown. Retire, as an active verb.v Rev., use the Rev. Role, use part. Roughs. Rowdies. Secesh. Sensation, use noteworthy event. Standpoint, use point of view. Start, in the sense of setting out. State, use say. Taboo. Talent, use talents or ability. Talented. Tapis. The deceased. War, use dispute or disagreement.
STILTS
Avoid bombastic language. Work for plain expressions rather than for the unusual. Use the simplest words that the subject will bear.
The following clipping, giving an account of the commencement exercises of a noted female college, strikingly illustrates what to avoid:
"Like some beacon-light upon a rock-bound coast against which the surges of the ocean unceasingly roll, and casting