gigantic extinct animal applied to a turnip and to a break at 

 billiards ! 



I now come to speak of the more general tendencies of the 

 language in America, and following at some distance in England. 

 Now, there is in America a process going on the reverse of that which 

 has taken place in the case of words derived by us from the Latin 

 through the French. In the rapid torrent of GaUic speech there 

 are many words which have had as it were their edges smoothed 

 away, like pebbles rounded in the torrent's bed. Thus softened 

 from the Latin probare we have prove, from rccuperare we have 

 recover, from dilitare we have delay. Now, the American is sparing 

 of speech, and at the same time craving for energy of expression, 

 and he likes to use words of which he can as it were get a good 

 grip in his mouth. Hence his tendency is to restore all those words 

 thus softened to their original form. Thus prove he makes back 

 again into probate, approve jinto approbate, reprove into reprobate 

 (we also have " reprobate," but in a sense rather different from 

 reprove, reprobate expressing the passive sense of disapproval, 

 and reprove the active). Announce again he changes back into 

 annunciate, recover into recuperate, and delay into dilitate. Now, I 

 do not mean to say that all those words are as yet established in 

 American speech ; the only one that can be said to be regularly 

 adopted is recuperate for recover, though probate for prove is also 

 in certain cases, but all the others may be found in the speech 

 and in the newspapers of the country. And I have once or twice 

 of late remarked the use of recuperate in this country. 



To the same craving for energy of expression may be owing 

 that redundancy of negatives which is such a distinctive feature of 

 American speech. When Mrs. Stowe made Topsy say, " Nobody 

 didn't make me, I don't think," she only expresses what you may hear 

 any day in America. " This train don't stop at no more stations, 

 I don't think," I remember a man saying to me on a railway as we 

 were approaching our journey's end. These are rather the grosser 

 forms of the abuse ; but nine hundred and ninety-nine Americans 

 out of a thousand whom you may meet, will say, " I couldn't get 



