Page:Side talks with girls (1895).djvu/122

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Side Talks with Girls

when you see how quickly you will stop using the objectionable language, and how easy it is, after all, to express all that you want to say in pure English.

Then, too, just think how ridiculous slang words would make certain situations in life. You are fond of that pretty play called "The Lady of Lyons"—fancy, after Claude Melnotte has made his beautiful avowal of love—one of the most perfectly expressed and exquisite word-pictures in the English language—just fancy Pauline looking up into his face and meeting his question by saying, "I should smile!" Imagine, if you can, when Richelieu, to protect Julie, draws around her form "the awful circle of our solemn Church," and causes the villains who are pursuing her to recognize the power of the cardinal as well as the purity of the girl—imagine Julie turning and saying, "Well, we got there!" Now there are times when your slang sounds just as ridiculous as this, and without considering the other bad effect it has on you, it makes you appear silly and undignified.

SLANG IN DRESS

A puzzled girl says: "How can I be slangy in my dress?" I'll tell you, and then you can see whether you are or not. The girl who, because lace frills are fashionable, has her frills wider than