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But what is most important is that one make scrupulously sure that the picturesque name one intends is fair and refers to a just responsibility. In some college circles, a girl "determined" to win the man she loves, is called a war horse. Here an uncomplimentary comparison is used for a trait which is not morally wrong and is probably socially good. At least Bernard Shaw thinks that girls, instead of waiting patiently for someone to ask them, should make a determined effort themselves to find the man they want! To call a serious, hard-studying student a bookworm is no longer bad, since long use has virtually converted the word to the compliment it ought to be, but to call him a grind or, worse, a greasy grind is too sharply critical of a trait which is more virtue than vice. Hence it is truly slang, and ought to be avoided. Somewhere in this happy land, chaperones are called fire extinguisher^. I leave it to the reader to determine whether this is slang or poetry. |
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