[c.] Slang is speech consisting either of uncouth expressions of illiterate origin, or of legitimate expressions used in grotesque or irregular senses. Though sometimes (witness eighteenth century mob, and nineteenth century buncombe) it satisfies a real need and becomes established in the language, in most instances it is short-lived (witness the thieves' talk in Oliver Twist, or passages from any comic opera song popular five years ago). Vicious types of slang are:
- Expressions of vulgar origin (from criminal classes, the prize ring, the vaudeville circuit, etc.): get pinched, down and out, took the count, bum hunch, nix on the comedy stuff, get across.
- Language strained or distorted for novel effect: performed the feed act at a bang-up gastronomic emporium, bingled a tall drive that made the horsehide ramble out into center garden.
- Blanket expressions used as substitutes for thinking: corking, stunning, ain't it fierce?, can you beat it?, going some, just so I get by with it.
The use of the last-named type is most to be regretted. It leads to a mental habit of phonographic repetition, with no resort to independent thinking. If a man really desires to use slang, let him invent new expressions every day, and make them fit the specific occasion.
Exercise:
- I disremember what sort of an outfit he wore.
- Helen's as light-complected a girl as you'll run across, I calculate.
- His ad brought a first-rate gent to hold down the job.
- Thompson hasn't stability, or it seems like it. He ain't got no gumption. He's too easy enthused.
- The grub was to of cost us two bits, but we didn't have the dough. We gets outside the food, and when the cashier ain't lookin', we runs out the door and beats it.
[Words Often Confused in Meaning]
67. Do not confuse or interchange the meanings of the following words:
Accept and except.Accept means to receive; except as a verb means to exclude and as a preposition means with the exception of. Affect and effect.Affect is not used as a noun; effect as a noun means result. As verbs, affect means to influence in part; effect means to accomplish totally. "His story affected me deeply." "The Russians effected a revolution." Affect also has a special meaning to feign. "She had an affected manner." Allusion and illusion.Allusion means a reference; illusion means a deceptive appearance. "A Biblical allusion." "An optical illusion." Already and all ready.Already means by this time or beforehand; all ready means wholly ready. "I have already invited him." "Dinner is all ready." "We are all ready for dinner." Altogether and all together.Altogether means wholly, entirely; all together means collectively, in a group. "He is altogether honest." "The King sent the people all together into exile." Can and may.Can means to be able; may means to have permission. Can for may has a certain colloquial standing, but is condemned by literary usage. Emigrate and immigrate.Emigrate means to go out from a country; immigrate means to enter into a country. The same man may be an emigrant when he leaves Europe, and an immigrant when he enters America. Healthy and healthful.Healthy means having health; healthful means giving health. "Milk is healthful." "The climate of Colorado is healthful." "The boy is healthy." Hanged and hung.Hanged is the correct past tense of hang in the sense put to death, hanged on the gallows; hung is the correct past tense for the general meaning suspended. Hygienic and sanitary.Both words mean pertaining to health. Hygienic is used when the condition is a matter of personal habits or rules; sanitary is used when the condition is a matter of surroundings (water supply, food supply, sewage disposal, etc.) or the relations of numbers of people. Instants and instance.Instants means small portions of time; instance means an example. Later and latter.Later means more late; latter means the second in a series of two. "The latter" is used in conjunction with the phrase "the former." Lead and led.Led is the past tense of the verb to lead. Lead is the present tense. Learn and teach.Learn means to get knowledge of; teach means to give knowledge of or to. "The instructor teaches (not learns) me physics." "He learns his lessons easily." Leave and let.Leave means to abandon; let means to permit. Less and fewer.Less refers to quantity; fewer refers to number. "He has fewer (not less) horses than he needs." Liable, likely, and apt.Likely merely predicts; liable conveys the additional idea of harm or responsibility. Apt applies usually to persons, in the sense of having natural capability, and sometimes to things, in the sense of fitting, appropriate. "It is likely to be a pleasant day." "I fear it is liable to rain." "He is liable for damages." "He is an apt lad at his books." "That is an apt phrase." Lie and lay.Lay, a transitive verb, means to cause to lie. "I lay the book on the table and it lies there." "Now I lay me down to sleep." A source of confusion between the two words is that the past tense of lie is lay:
| I lie down to sleep. | I lay the book on the table. |
| I lay there yesterday. | I laid it there yesterday. |
| I have lain here for hours. | I have laid it there many times. |
| I sit down. | I always set it in its place. |
| He sat in this very chair. | I set it in its place yesterday. |
| He has sat there an hour. | I have always set it just here. |