Frequently some imaginative person hits upon a new and striking way of saying an old thing. The new and vivid form of expression is generally figurative. It involves a comparison that suddenly pops into the speaker's head. Other persons adopt the novel saying and finally it becomes a new bit of slang.

Occasionally a piece of slang meets a real need; that is, it expresses a common thought in a more lively way than the old form. In this case, intelligent persons adopt it; and after a time it comes to be accepted by educated persons everywhere as correct and effective English, and thus adds to the wealth of our language. A native Westerner wished to tell a precise and literal-minded judge, who had recently come to the West, that he had known of the flight of a certain criminal. This was his first way of expressing the thought: "I just knew that that man had hit the wind." Seeing that the Easterner looked perplexed, the ranchman tried again: "Why, I was sure he had struck the high places." Now the speaker had surely suggested his thought in two picturesque ways. The expressions "hit the wind" and "struck the high places " help to give vivid pictures of a man fleeing. We might expect one or both of them to become "good English."

But, unfortunately, some persons are too lazy to express their thoughts clearly, others cannot do so, and still others strive to attract attention by using striking expressions whether they fit the occasion or not. Such persons are likely to seize upon the Westerner's expressions and to use them so often where they are not appropriate that they come to have no meaning any where. If this should happen, the sooner they are forgotten the better.

Though we must acknowledge that some slang is expressive, we must acknowledge also that much of it is senseless, and that all of it is senseless when it is used where it doesn't fit. And the great trouble with slang is that it generally is used where it doesn't fit. Do you have some favorite expression that you have formed the habit of using on all sorts of occasions? And if you have, do you ever stop to think whether or not it really says something that you wish to say? And have you, worse still, several such bits of slang? If you have, you can hardly imagine how tiresome your speech becomes to those who like to hear folks say what they mean.

But the fact that your habit of using senseless slang is unpleasant to others is not so important as the other fact that it is keeping you from getting an exact and varied vocabulary. If you stop to think, you will remember that often when you really want to say something in a pleasing and dignified way you have no words with which to do so. Nothing but a patchwork of senseless slang comes to your mind, and you can only stammer and look embarrassed. Every year you will feel your disadvantage more keenly.

Exercise 243. Class Discussion

Watch your own speech and that of others and bring to class definite illustrations of the senseless use of slang. Be ready to talk about them in class. Tell whether you think the speakers used them just for the sake of saying something when they had nothing to say, or whether they had real thoughts that they wished to express. In the latter case, suggest some clear and correct way of expressing the thought. See if the same slang expression is used to express different thoughts. Bring also illustrations of what seems to you a proper use of slang.

Exercise 244. Oral Composition

Talk for two minutes about your favorite game without using any slang that you cannot show is needed.

Exercise 245. Developing A Topic Sentence

Choose one of the following sentences as the introductory or topic sentence for a written paragraph. Develop the sentence by illustration or explanation.

1. Emerson's skill in choosing words is illustrated in his poem, The Rhodora (page 248).

2. There is one spot where I always look for a favorite spring flower.

3. I had rather receive a beautiful gift than a useful one.

4. I had rather receive a useful gift than a beautiful one.

5. We sometimes forget that "eyes were made for seeing."

6. My eyes are worth more to me than my ears.

7. When I was six years old, I thought some things beautiful that I do not admire now.

8. When I was six years old, I thought that some things were fun that I do not enjoy now.

9. We estimate that our silo (washing machine, vacuum cleaner) will pay for itself in three years.

10. Every day offers opportunities for heroism to a pupil (a business man, a politician, a farmer).

11. We have been surprised to learn in our study of agriculture how many different materials are found in a grain of corn.

12. There is no place in the world better fitted for raising than - .

13. Making out an order for seeds requires a good deal of thought and careful calculation.

Topics For Compositions

1. Advantages to the farmer of raising a few sheep (hogs).

2. Proper care and feeding of sheep (hogs).

3. Sheep raising in our Western states.

4. Sheep raising in some foreign country.

5. My grandmother's pet lamb.

6. The history of the cloth of my wool dress (suit of clothes).