220 HOME AND GARDEN 



show the more clearly how much the good old word 

 is wanted, and yet it is left unused till at last it dies. 

 These fine old words die first in common speech, 

 though they may linger long in literature. Why are 

 we shy of the good word " trustworthy," or why for 

 once that it is used do we hear fifty times the 

 weak and ill-constructed " reliable " or the still worse 

 " dependable " ? 



Why do we hover all round the fine old verb to 

 " thrust " with feebler words like " push " or " poke " 

 or vulgarities like " shove " ? 



What has become of the name of the old virtue 

 " fortitude," seldom heard in speech and only living 

 in the best literature ? What other word can express 

 the magnificent combination of courage and endur- 

 ance that we only hear spoken of in terms of school- 

 boy cant as "pluck," or in those of racing slang as 

 " staying-power " 



In many cases the botanical names of plants have 

 been so long in popular use that they have actually 

 become a part of our language. When this is so, 

 and the Latin or Greek name has become perfectly 

 familiar, there is no need to cast about for an English 

 one, especially in the case of those plants whose names 

 are pretty and pleasant and neither long nor cum- 

 bersome. So we have Iris and Ixia, Azalea, Kalmia, 

 Daphne, Anemone, Clematis, Verbena, and Cistus and 

 many others. They have passed into the language by 

 general adoption and approval, and there can be no 



