P.—For the land’s sake, what is the meaning of the last word?
S.—Orthœpy means pronunciation.
P.—How queer your jaw opens and closes, when you pronounce that strange word.
S.—I suppose so. I will now give you the first lesson in grammar.
P.—Let me first take a good stiff horn of brandy to brace my nerves. (Drinks.) Now, sir, I am ready for Grammar, which, I repeat, I studied when a boy; and I only desire to review what I know already.
S.—How many parts of speech are there?
P.—What do you mean by that?
S.—I mean, into how many parts of speech is language divided?
P.—Well, by golly, I don’t know exactly,—but, from the immense number of words in the Bible, and in all the books at the Harpers, and in the Historical Society, and in all the newspapers, I should think there must be, at the lowest calculation, about five hundred million parts of speech.
S.—There are only nine parts of speech.