I 
THE OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN 
TVT ANY phrases which we commonly use will, if 
they are submitted to examination, very often 
be found to have a meaning altogether vague. They 
present a misty impression rather than a clear idea. 
Yet, such is the folly of us!—these are phrases which 
come often and most trippingly from our tongues, ac¬ 
quiring a certain vogue, perhaps, from their very 
obscurity—as many things do. It is enough that they 
are not quite understood to make them popular. 
Nowhere in common speech shall another example 
of this be found that equals that sentimental superla¬ 
tive, “dear, old-fashioned”! Without qualifying ex¬ 
planation, what does “dear, old-fashioned” mean? 
To the speaker one thing, possibly—perhaps it hardly 
means anything in the majority of instances—to the 
hearer, another; and according to the dictionary, some¬ 
thing quite different from either, I take it. For “old- 
fashioned” is a relative compound which may be 
stretched, like an easy conscience, to suit the moment’s 
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