Therefore we note, as our first conclusion, that a person who wishes to be
understood must avoid expressions and meanings which are not in _present
use_.

NATIONAL USE.--A boy from southern Pennsylvania was visiting in New
York State. In the midst of some preparations for a fishing excursion he
said to his host, "Shall I take my _gums_ along?" His host burst out
laughing and said, "Of course; did you think of taking them out of your
mouth and leaving them at home?"[2] Unconsciously the boy had used a good
English word in a sense peculiar to the district in which he lived; his
host had understood the word in its proper sense.

On another occasion a gentleman who had just arrived at a hotel in
Kennebunkport, Me., agreed to a proposal to "go down to the beach in the
_barge_." Going to his room, he prepared for a little excursion on the
river which flowed by the hotel. When he returned, he was greatly
surprised to find his friends about to start for the beach in _a large
omnibus_. Another gentleman once asked a young lady to go "_riding_" with
him. At the appointed hour he drove to her house in a buggy, and she came
down to meet him in her riding habit.

These incidents show that if we use expressions that are only local, or
use words in local senses, we are liable either to be misunderstood or not
to be understood at all. Obscurity also arises from the use of words in
senses which are peculiar to a certain class or profession. For example,
to a person who is not familiar with commercial slang, this sentence from
the market columns of a newspaper is a puzzle:--

"Java coffees are _dull_ and _easy_, though they are _statistically
strong_."