Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking by John Hendricks Bechtel
page 11 of 253 (04%)
page 11 of 253 (04%)
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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, _________________________________________________________________ 13 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 |
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