The Project Gutenberg EBook of Every-Day Errors of Speech, by L. P. Meredith

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Title: Every-Day Errors of Speech

Author: L. P. Meredith

Release Date: May 19, 2010 [EBook #32435]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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EVERY-DAY
ERRORS OF SPEECH

BY
L. P. MEREDITH, M.D., D.D.S.,
AUTHOR OF "THE TEETH, AND HOW TO SAVE THEM."

PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1876.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year, 1872, by
L. P. MEREDITH,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

INTRODUCTION

_Damas._ * * * The Prince of Como does not
understand his own language.

_Melnotte._ Not as you pronounce it: Who the
deuce could?

It may be regarded as one of the commendable peculiarities of the
English language that, despite provincialisms, vulgarisms, neglected
education, foreign accent, and the various corrupting influences to
which it is subjected, it may be understood wherever it is heard,
whatever differences of distance or associations may have existed
between the speaker and the listener, both claiming familiarity with
it. Considering these influences and the arbitrariness of the
orthoepical rules of the language, there has been expressed surprise
that frequent degenerations into uncouth dialects or patois have not
occurred. A decent regard for the common weal should cause
gratification that such degenerations have not taken place, for were
it not for the ability of our tongue to preserve its individuality
against the tendency toward corruption, we might reasonably fear such
a Babel-like confusion, that, when asked, "Do you speak English?" one
might appropriately, _sans_ the profanity, reply in the language of
the text, "Not as you pronounce it: Who the deuce could?" While the
majority of people place no other value upon language than that of
convenience, and are indifferent to any corruption, so long as they
can simply understand and be understo