The
following will serve for illustration; "The balance of the journey"
for remainder, "he was well posted." for well informed, "I calculate
he will come to-morrow" for believe or think, "I reckon he is your
friend" for I suppose.
COMMON SLANG
To materialize, to burglarize, to enthuse, to suicide, to wire, to
jump upon, to sit upon, to take in, are a few of the many examples of
slang that should be avoided.
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PROVINCIALISMS
A word that is used only in a limited part of the country is called a
provincialism. It must be known and recognized for what it is worth,
but not obtruded where it does not belong.
Whatever may be said of the faults of speech of the American people,
it is doubtful if any other nation, whether it covers a large
territory or is limited in area, speaks the language native to the
country with the uniformity that we do. Yet, there are peculiarities
that mark the expression of most of our people, even among the best
informed. The words calculate, reckon, and guess are not the only
words that betray the locality of the speaker.
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