that all the
good men are in it or all the bad ones outside.
8. Above all, believe that humanity is advancing, that there is progress
in human affairs, and that as sure as God lives the future will be
better than the past or present.
+-----------------------------------------+
| ... PROMOTER OF CIVIC WELFARE AND |
| CIVIC PRIDE ... BOND OF CIVIC UNITY ... |
| PROTECTOR OF CIVIC RIGHTS. |
+-----------------------------------------+
THE CANNERY
Dean Alford says: "Be simple, be unaffected, be honest in your speaking
and writing. Call a spade a spade, not a well known oblong instrument of
manual husbandry. Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of
us, but simplicity and straightforwardness are."
Many pages would be required to list all the so-called bromides that
have been worn threadbare by constant use and abuse in newspapers. Often
these phrases are used to avoid what the writer believes to be annoying
repetition. It is better to use the word _fire_ many times in a
paragraph than to use the word _conflagration_ once.
So many phrases have become hackneyed in newspapers that the comic
magazines make jokes about them. This is from Puck:
A NEWSPAPER DICTIONARY
=Appropriate Exercises.=--What the celebration opened with.
=Good-Natured Crowd.=--People out on election night.
=Firm, Clear Tones.=--What the bride uttered the responses in.
=Heart of the Business Section.=--District threatened by fire. (See =under
control=.)
=Land Office Business.=--What the charity bazaar did. (See =pretty girls=.)
=Luscious Bivalve.=--What the pearl was found in. (See =poor shoemaker=.)
=Musical Circles.=--What the hostess is prominent in. (See =artistic
interpretation=.)
=Pool of Blood.=--What the body was lying in.
=Sensational Failure.=--A Wall street bankruptcy.
=Trojans.=--What the men were working like.
=Undercurrent of Excitement.=--Something that ran through the audience.
(See =tense moment=.)
=Well-Known Southern Family.=--What the bridegroom is a member of.
Avoid such phrases as:
burly Negro
smoking revolver
cheered to the echo
in durance vile
herculean efforts
it goes without saying
limps into port
daring robber
bolt from a clear sky
facile pen
breathless silence
crisp bill
grim reaper
dusky damsel
tonsorial parlor
vale of tears
denizens of the dee
|