Care should be taken in writing for the young, or they may get a wholly different meaning from the language than that intended. The Bishop of Hereford was examining a school-class one day, and, among other things, asked what an average was. Several boys pleaded ignorance, but one at last replied, "It is what a hen lays on." This answer puzzled the bishop not a little; but the boy persisted in it, stating that he had read it in his little book of facts. He was then told to bring the little book, and, on doing so, he pointed triumphantly to a paragraph commencing, If English is "wrote" as she is often "spoke" by the ignorant and careless, she would bear little resemblance to the original Queen's English. A listener wrote out a short conversation heard the other day between two pupils of a high-school, and here is the phonetic result: "Warejergo lasnight?" "Hadder skate." "Jerfind th'ice hard'n'good?" "Yes, hard'nough." "Jer goerlone?" "No; Bill'n Joe wenterlong." "Howlate jerstay?" "Pastate." "Lemmeknow wenyergoagin, woncher? I wantergo'n'show yer howterskate." "H'm, ficoodn't skate better'n you I'd sell-out'n'quit." "Well, we'll tryeranc'n'seefyercan." Here, as they took different streets, their conversation ceased. A writer in the "School-boy Magazine" has gathered together the following dictionary words as defined by certain small people:
The following specimens from scholars' examinations in making sentences to illustrate the definitions of words, found in their small dictionaries, will have a familiar sound to some of our readers:
We have the authority of the late Dr. Hart as to the genuineness of the following extracts, taken from the papers of a class seeking admission into a high-school, to which had been given a list of words for their meanings and applications:
Don't:
"I'll view the manners of the town."—Comedy of Errors. By CENSOR. Square 16mo. Parchment paper. Price, 30 cents. English as She is Spoke; Or, A Jest in Sober Earnest. Compiled from the celebrated "New Guide of Conversation in Portuguese and English." "Excruciatingly funny."—London World. "Every one who loves a laugh should either buy, beg, borrow, or—we had almost said steal—the book."—London Fun. Square 16mo. Parchment-paper cover. Price, 30 cents. Write and Speak Correctly. The OrthoËpist:
"It gives us pleasure to say that we think the author in the treatment of this very difficult and intricate subject, English pronunciation, gives proof of not only an unusual degree of orthoËpical knowledge, but also, for the most part, of rare judgment and taste."—Joseph Thomas, LL. D., in Literary World. The Verbalist:
"We remain shackled by timidity till we have learned to speak with propriety."—Johnson. Errors in the Use of English. By the late William B. Hodgson, LL. D., Professor of Political Economy in the University of Edinburgh. American revised edition. 12mo, cloth. Price, $1.50. "The most comprehensive and useful of the many books designed to promote correctness in English composition by furnishing examples of inaccuracy, is the volume compiled by the late William B. Hodgson, under the title of 'Errors in the Use of English.' The American edition of this treatise, now published by the Appletons, has been revised, and in many respects materially improved, by Francis A. Teall, who seldom differs from the author without advancing satisfactory reasons for his opinion. The capital merits of this work are that it is founded on actual blunders, verified by chapter and verse reference, and that the breaches of good use to which exception is taken have been committed, not by slipshod, uneducated writers, of whom nothing better could be expected, but by persons distinguished for more than ordinary carefulness in respect to style."—New York Sun. "'Bachelor Bluff' is bright, witty, keen, deep, sober, philosophical, amusing, instructive, philanthropic—in short, what is not 'Bachelor Bluff'?" NEW CHEAP SUMMER EDITION, IN PARCHMENT PAPER. Bachelor Bluff: His Opinions, Sentiments, and "Mr. Bunce is a writer of uncommon freshness and power.... Those who have read his brief but carefully written studies will value at their true worth the genuine critical insight and fine literary qualities which characterize his work."—Christian Union. "We do not recall any volume of popular essays published of late years which contains so much good writing, and so many fine and original comments on topics of current interest. Mr. Oracle Bluff is a self-opinionated, genial, whole-souled fellow.... His talk is terse, epigrammatic, full of quotable proverbs and isolated bits of wisdom."—Boston Traveller. "It is a book which, while professedly aiming to amuse, and affording a very rare and delightful fund of amusement, insinuates into the crevices of the reflective mind thoughts and sentiments that are sure to fructify and perpetuate themselves."—Eclectic Magazine. New cheap edition. 16mo, parchment paper. Price, 50 cents. Hygiene for Girls. By IrenÆus P. Davis, M. D. 18mo, cloth. Price, $1.25. "Many a woman whose childhood was bright with promise endures an after-life of misery because, through a false delicacy, she remained ignorant of her physical nature and requirements, although on all other subjects she may be well-informed; and so at length she goes to her grave mourning the hard fate that has made existence a burden, and perhaps wondering to what end she was born, when a little knowledge at the proper time would have shown her how to easily avoid those evils that have made her life a wretched failure."—From Introduction. "A very useful book, for parents who have daughters is 'Hygiene for Girls,' by IrenÆus P. Davis, M.D., published by D. Appleton & Co. And it is just the book for an intelligent, well-instructed girl to read with care. It is not a text-book, nor does it bristle with technical terms. But it tells in simple language just what girls should do and not to do to preserve the health and strength, to realize the joys, and prepare for the duties of a woman's lot. It is written with a delicacy, too, which a mother could hardly surpass in talking with her daughter."—Christian at Work. PRICE, $1,25 A VOL.] [IN TWELVE VOLS. THE NEW EDITION OF SHAKSPERE'S WORKS, New York: This edition is being printed with new type, cast expressly for the work, on laid linen paper, and in a form and style which give it peculiar elegance. The text is mainly that of DELIUS, the chief difference consisting in a more sparing use of punctuation than that employed by the well-known German editor. Wherever a variant reading is adopted, some good and recognized SHAKSPEREAN critic has been followed. In no case is a new rendering of the text proposed; nor has it been thought necessary to distract the reader's attention by notes or comments. "There is, perhaps no edition in which the works of Shakspere can be read in such luxury of type, and quiet distinction of form, as this."—Pall Mall Gazette. The English Grammar of William Cobbett. Carefully revised and annotated by Alfred Ayres, Author of "The OrthoËpist," "The Verbalist," etc. "The only amusing grammar in the world."—Henry Lytton Bulwer. "Interesting as a story-book."—Hazlitt. "I know it well, and have read it with great admiration."—Richard Grant White. "Cobbett's Grammar is probably the most readable grammar ever written. For the purposes of self-education it is unrivaled."—From the Preface. Mr. Ayres makes a feature of the fact that Who and Which are properly the co-ordinating relative pronouns, and that That is properly the restrictive relative pronoun. The Grammar has an Index covering no less than eight pages. Uniform with "The OrthoËpist" and "The Verbalist." 18mo, cloth. Price, $1.00. New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street. |
|
