THK STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



there be used, and add to the influence at work 

 to make a .-li>li language. Tin- lan- 



guage of chivalry was exchmvely French, and 

 brought in such words as, hon< . nown, 



host, champion, valiant ..-hievement. 



-y. irentle. etc., With tlu lawyer, who 

 was a great power during this time of transition. 

 came such words as advocate, alliance, chattels, 

 demi* l.-nuinvr. domain, estate, fief. 



homage, liege, loyalty, manor, personality, pur- 

 voucher. 



words which de-Tribe the pursuits of 

 gentlefolk are mostly of Freneh origin; and 

 it is a curious comment on history that, as 

 Wamba points out in " Ivanhoe," 'while live 

 animals ox, sheep, calf, swine, deer re- j 

 tain their native names, they are described by 



words beef, mutton, veal, pork, veni- 

 son when they are brought to table. The] 

 "Saxon" serf had the care of the animals while 



re alive, but when killed they were eaten 

 by his "French" superiors. Abundant words, 

 relating to law, government, and property, I 



heir origin in the Conquest. Such are : 

 custom, prime, court, assize, tax, county, city, j 

 judge, jury, justice, prion, goal, parliament, ; 

 manor, money, rent, chattel, mortgage, council, 

 bill. act. etc. The French had shown their j 

 greater genius for war, and so, very naturally, 

 their military terms were accepted. Army, 

 battle, fortress, cannonade, assault, siege, hau- 

 berk, ambuscade, brigadier, colonel, arms, armor, 

 standard, banner, harness, glaive, tower, and 

 lance are some of them. 



From the fact that butcher, grocer, mason, 

 carpenter, barber, chandler, cutter, draper, and 

 tailor are of French extraction, we would con- 

 clude that the strangers were superior to the 



- in the industrial occupations. 



"It is owing to the coming of William," says 

 Dr. Freeman in his "History of the Norman 

 Conquest," "that we cannot trace the history 

 of our native speech, that we cannot raise our 

 wail of its corruption without borrowing largely 

 from the store of foreign words which, but for 

 his coming, would never have crossed the sea. 

 So strong a hold have the intruders taken on 

 pur soil that we cannot tell the tale of their com- 

 inu r without their help." 



'. y all the scholarly writers of to-day 

 have been classically educated, and they write 

 for readers presumed to have more or less knowl- 

 : Latin, hence they do not hesitate to use 

 Latin derivatives, and often anglicize a Latin 

 word rather than invent a native English com- 

 pound. It is this tendency which has kept us 

 from forming compound words, as do the Ger- 

 ior each new idea. But recently the Ger- 

 man Emperor put forth a strong plea for the 

 use of the native words instead of the foreign 

 words, which the people were adopting so readily. 

 He even wanted them to use a native compound 

 in place of the cosmopolitan word telephone. 



The English tongue is fortunate in that it is 

 an ingenious and partial compound of German 

 and Latin. The < i< -rrnan gives force, the Latin 

 sonority to our verse and prose, while an inter- 

 changing of German and Latin gives a variety 

 which every other language may seek in vain. 



Most of our scientific nomenclature is from 



the Greek. Not only do we get our scientifie 

 terms from the Greek, but also the names 

 for the new instruments and processes, as, 

 lithography, photography, telephone, einemo- 

 tograph, etc. 



Our musical vocabulary is largely from the 

 Italian, as the following words bear witness: 

 contralto, duet, opera, piano, quartet, solo, 

 sonata, soprano, stanza, trio, trombone, allegro, 

 adagio, baritone, cantata, canto, fugue, can- 

 zonet, etc. 



The French give us terms of dress and cook- 

 ing: flounce, jewel, pattern, plait, toilet, ton- 

 sure, vesture, trousseau, costume, model, peruke, 

 drape, embroider, furbelow, jacket, apparel, 

 apron, bracelet, brooch, buckle, fricassee, fritter, 

 fog, gem, jelly, juice, omelet, parboil, peel, pie, 

 ragout, sauce, sausage, victuals, salad, etc. 



The advent of the English in the New World 

 is known by the adoption of tobacco, potato, 

 tepee, wigwam, toboggan, moccasin, pemmican, 

 etc. 



Were it wise to use the space for it, illustra- 

 tions of words taken from every language could 

 be given. But enough has already been done 

 to show the composite make-up of our mother 

 tongue, and to show the sources of its strength. 



Every Englishman should speak English. If 

 a foreign word has been adopted into the Eng- 

 lish language, why not let it take the English 

 forms? Let the plural of syllabus be syllabuses; 

 of cactus, cactuses; of focus, focuses; etc. 

 Let others take on the English spelling, as, 

 technic, not technique; grip, not grippe; con- 

 servatory, not conservatoire; exposure, not 

 expose", etc. Only a pedant will use serviette 

 in place of napkin. 



Let the student or would-be author not try 

 to adorn his style with foreign words; let him 

 use the most usual terms to produce the desired 

 effect. Let him remember that, though Eng- 

 lish has borrowed a great deal of French, though 

 it has lost a large stock of English words, though 

 it has adopted many a French idiom, and has 

 been influenced by French in endless indirect 

 ways, it still remains English. 



In former times " hard work made one sweat " ; 

 now-a-days excessive labor causes profuse per- 

 spiration. If a man, thus overheated, were to 

 stand in a draught, he might catch his death 

 of cold, get very sick, and even die, would read 

 well enough as an ordinary warning; but in a 

 treatise on hygiene for popular use, the matter 

 is now presented as follows: " If a person, whose 

 system is excited by vigorous exertion, should 

 suddenly expose himself to a current of air, he 

 would probably check his perspiration and con- 

 tract a disease which might involve the most 

 serious and even fatal consequences." Which 

 form of expression shall we cultivate? Which 

 recommends itself to you? 



Dr. Freeman says: "In almost every page 

 I have found it easy to put some plain English 

 word, about whose meaning there can be no 

 doubt, instead of those needless French and 

 Latin words which are thought to add dignity 

 to style, but which in truth only add vagueness. 

 I am in no way ashamed to find that I can write 

 purer and clearer English now than I did four- 

 teen and fifteen years back; and I think it well 



