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sense. The word bellyache, for complaining, is most picturesque and apt, but the proper conversationalist will tend to avoid it. There are two current picturesque expressions for being caught off guard, namely, caught flat-footed and that which describes one as being caught with a part of man's usual apparel unsuspended! A conversationalist will not be cheated of the former by any charge of slang, but he will resolutely avoid the latter as introducing unnecessary ugliness into talk. What has often helped me personally in deciding the propriety of an expression, as I was evolving through my various school years, was the question, "How would this sound, even if it were in a smoking car, on the lips of a bishop or college president or governor?" If even in a smoking car it would sound improper coming from them, then it should always be regarded as improper for ourselves. My mother on one occasion gave me a sharp lesson in this matter of harmless, nonsinful, but ugly, unrefined expressions. In boarding school, I had somehow picked up, as an alternative to the worse expression, the term son-of-a-buck. Home on vacation I used it unthinkingly and with gusto. My mother, hearing it, declared herself shocked. Surprised, I said that there was nothing sinful about the word. She answered that that was not the only issue; that it was ugly and sounded crude, and must be avoided. She was right. Now I shudder to think I ever could have used it. Picturesque expressions should be rejected, if they are unjust or unfair, if they unnecessarily hurt, if they are coarse. These are the marks of slang, that is, of objectionable figurative language. Perhaps one could call slang a compliment in reverse. |
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