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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-01-18, Page 2Spelling Really In Defoe's Roxana, published in 1724, the Fortunate, Mistress tells at length how her, husband Was an all--aroundfool. As a sort of climax she says that he "could not spell good English" Complaints in our clay about the "poor English" of so many high-school or even college grad- uates are most often really stim- ulated by the prevalence of mis- spelled words. This is quite understandable. Any reader may feel the effect of other faults but these will hardly be seen for what they are without stopping to analyze the material. Immedi- ately the misspelled word dis- tracts attention from the thought and deflates the dignity of the writing, Even the worst spellers write correctly far more words than they ever misspell. The average poor speller simply misspells a certain number of words, or cer- tain kinds of words. He has only to concentrate a little upon these items and see why/ they are spell- ed as they are. It is not the "hard" words that cause the most trouble. Most of the words which continue to be frequently misspelled, year after year, are words which have clear and definite reasons for their correct forms. With all its faults, our English spelling is not nearly so "cock- eyed" as it has been accused of being. it does not lend itself to the sort of neatly "phonetic" ar- rangements which other lan- guages can use, because it is very peculiar in its manner of pro- nunciation. Its fundamental pe- cularity is the overwhelming importance of accented syllables —at the expense of all others. The system of our spelling was long ago considerably adjusted to this phenomenon. Unaware- ness of that fact explains a large share of the misspellings which appear continually. In whole classes of words, doubling the final consonant of an accented syllable marks the quality-- (not the "length") of a preceding vowel. This makes the difference between scraped and scrapped, hoping and hopping, sniping, and snipping, grip- ed and gripped, and count- less other pairs of superficial resemblance Fitted requires two t's, but not benefited, where the syllable fit is not accented; ship- ping takes two p's but not wor- shiping. If traveler were spelled with two 1's, it would suggest the pattern of propeller. Denied one of its is transferred would fall Into the chin of persevered or interfered. The violation of this p"ip1e accounts for what hap- ene;to many of the words most .ep ninonly misspelled. - vhatever "vowels" we think we have in unaccented syllables, in actual speech they tend to be- come simply "uh" or even drop out entirely. Consequently some of the worst errors in spelling are accurate enough from a merely "phonetic" point of view. Yet they reveal ignorance of the real words and what they mean. One could scarcely commit a worse social blunder in writing than to confuse accept and ex - CAN Be Learned cep; in answering an invitation, but the error continues to hap- pen. As naturally spoken, the words are indistinguishable in sound, though poles apart, in meaning. The very distinct verbs affect (to influence) and effect (to bring about, cause to), which sound, the same in ordinary speech, are frequently inter- changed by people who seem to have no clear view of the dis- tinction. The reason for the spelling of a word is not and cannot be simply a "phonetic" reason. In grammar, for instance, which students frequently naia- spell, the second a might as well any other "vowel," but gramma- tical or grammarian instantly shows why the a is. there. Su- persede, literally "to sit above," has no connection with cede, but is related to sedentary and other members of, the "sitting" group. Consensus has nothing to do with census, but is related to sense. The adjective personal is quite distinct from the noun personnel, a French military term which has come into wide use in this country since World War I. To be sure, some seemingly illogical forms have to be ac- quired by sheer memory Mostly they are words that never should have been spelled the way they are. Principle, for instance, should have remained princ'lpe, as it came into English from French. Yet even so, the noun need not be confused with prin- cipal, whose ending is character- istic of a large class of adjectives. One might guess that no word has been oftener misspelled in business letters than receive, To head off this error, there is a "rule" about e and i with refer- ence to c and 1. The rule is whol- ly factitious and has nothing par- ticular to do with the ways of the English language. A more real- istic approach is to remember four verbs: receive, deceive, per- ceive, and conceive. They all came from French, and all were similarly distorted in angliciza- tion, They should not have any i in them at all. No doubt their ei originally had its character- istic value in English, as in eight, freight, weight, rein, reign, deign, sleigh, neighbor, and the like. At any rate, it is no great task to learn once for all those four ex- ceptional verbs and be done with itl A so-called error of spelling may prove beyond doubt that a person habitually mispronounces the word in question, or that he lacks the feeling for the way a part of speech is regularly form- ed; "Incidently" or "pronoun - dation" demonstrates both of these faults. Confusion of to and too, or of than and then, is at the same time an error of pronun- ciation, grammar, and intrinsic meaning. Hesitation between its and it's or there and their be- trays an unfamiliarity with the very structure of our language. .An error may show a misunder- standing of the nature of a whole phrase, as "once and awhile" for once in a while or "by enlarge" for by and large. Some irresponsible tinkerers like to play with forms of words according to their whim, To such we owe the self-conscious illi- teracy of "nite." Night belongs in a familiar class with might, fright, sight, slight, light, plight, and others formed on an estab- lished pattern which everyone knows, whereas the artificially concocted form has far less anal- ogy to justify it. Surely correct spelling could be more effectively taught if only more pains were taken to show why our words are spelled as they are.—By Louis Foley, Babson Institute of Business Administration ISSUE 52 — 1961 SHE NEEDLES THE MASTERS — Mrs. Alexandra Herrmann, of Suo Paulo, Brazil, is a portraitist in needle -and -thread. Shown working on a portrait of a grandchild, her reproduc- tion of l-logarth's "The Girl ut the Market" is in background. IN GRIP OF CUSTOM— A new and utterly charming tech- nique of eating toast with chopsticks is introduced by Hro Duk Yoo, 9 -year-old member of a Korean War orphan choir visiting Detroit. She doesn't trust the unwieldy tableware we use — and fingers wouldn't do at all. So chopsticks it is. TABLE TALKS dr ,21a-ra Andrews. Fondant is the basis of many candies, A few of the ways in which it can be used are — form balls and top with nut halves, pressing down to make a flat round; stuff plump tender prunes or dates with plain fondant; make fondant into small balls and roll in chopped nuts, shredded coconut, or grated chocolate; or, flavor and color fondant as you wish and form into round, flat patties. Here is a no -cook fond- ant—it makes about 11/ pounds. NO -000K FONDANT 1 cup°soft butter % cup white corn syrup 3a cup teaspoon salt 31,E eups (1 pound) sifted confectioners' sugar Blend butter, syrup, salt, and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Add sifted confectioners' auger all at once. Mix all together, 'first with a spoon and then with hands, kneading in the dry ingre- dients. Turn onto board and con- tinue kneading until mixture is well blended and smooth. Store in a cool place. , * * If you want to make the fol- lowing creamy caramels into chocolate caramels, a d d a/4 squares unsweetened chocolate before cooking. CREAMY CARAMELS 2. cups sugar 1 cup corn syrup (light or dark, whichever you like) 2 cups light cream 1 cup butter 34 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 34 eup broken nut meats (optional) Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1 cup cream in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Then add remaining cup of cream very slowly so that mixture does not stop boiling at any time, Cook about 5 minutes longer. Add butter, about 1 tea- spoon at a time, stirring onstant- ly. Turn heat low and cook slowly to 248° F., or until a small amount of mixture forms a firm ball when tested in very cold water. Remove from heat; add salt and vanilla and mix gently. Allow to stand about 10 minutes and then add nuts, a few at a time. Pour into well -buttered 8x8x2-inch pan. Cool until firm enough to cut. Turn the block of candy out of the pan. Cut into squares with a sharp knife. Wrap each caramel in waxed paper. Makes 2 pounds caramels. * * BUTTER TAFFY 4 cups sugar 3.i cup water ?-a cup butter 3 teaspoon cream of tartar Extract and colorings Put sugar, water, butter, and cream of tartar together in a 3 - quart saucepan. Cook to the hard crack stage 275° to 280°, stirring frequently during the last few minutes to prevent scorching. Pour gently into buttered platter to cool (do not scrape pan), When coo] enough to handle, divide into portions; color and flavor as desired, Butter hands well and pull until candy is opaque, even -colored and stiff.. Pull out into a rope about Me' in diameter and cut with buttered scissors into 1" or lie" pieces. Yield; 21/2, pounds, * 5 * CHOCO-CICUNCH[ 2 cups sugar 4 tablespoons butter. 3Q teaspoon baking soda 11/2eups chopped Brazil auto 1 package (6 ounces) semi- sweet chocolate pieces 1 tablespoon shortening Put sugar and butter in heavy skillet. Place over low heat and stir constantly until sugar melts. (It's important to keep the mix- ture stirred constantly over low heat to get an even caramelize - tion of the sugar.) Just as soon as all 'the sugar is melted and light brown in color, add soda and stir in 1 cup of the nuts. Turn onto a greased baking sheet and roll out with rolling pin until brittle is 1/4 thick. Pull corners to make a square. While candy is hot, mark quickly into squares With a sharp knife. Break into pieces when brittle hardens. Melt semi -sweet chocolate pieces and shortening over hot, net boiling, water. Dip one-third of each square into melted chocolate; coat with remaining nuts. Yield: 2 pounds, r * NESSELRODES 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup / cup water 1/ teaspoon salt 2 egg whites 1 teaspoon rum or vanilla extract 1 cup chopped Brazil nuts '/ cup finely cut candied fruit Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt in a saucepan. Place over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Continue cook- ing without stirring until syrup, when dropped in cold water, forms a hard ball, or until candy thermometer reaches 265°. Just before syrup reaches 265°, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Gradually pour the syrup in a very eine stream over egg whites, beating constantly while pouring. Continue beating until mixture holds its shape. Stir in flavoring, le cup of the nuts and fruit. With lightly buttered hands form into ei" balls; roll in remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Yield: 11/2 pounds. M • 5 FOOLPROOF FUDGE 2 packages (6 ounches each) semi -sweet chocolate pieces el cup sweetened condensed milk Melt chocolate pieces over hot, not boiling, water in top of dou- ble boiler. Remove from heat. Stir in milk and mix until well blended. if desired, add chopped' nuts or coconut. Turn into in- dividual molds or pan, Allow to etand several hours to ripen. Yield: About 11/s pounds. You Just Name It He Will Get It! Francois Lane's Paris Planning Service is a do -everything agen- ay which cetera to preposterous needs and thrivesen the appara. ently impossible. ]`aced with a request for four English-speak- ing Negro servants in Louis XV livery, Lano will, get on the phone, round up the appropriate people in appropriate getup and deliver on time. Once, when he was filling just such an order, one of the four servants fel] ill a few hours before the party he was to adorn, Desperate, Lano found a Sicilian friend, sent him off to Helena Rubinsteln's fez a massive application of dark make-up, and on to the celebra- tion, where he passed himself off with swarthily suave aplomb. A former theatrical agent, Lano is anybody's friend in Paris —anybody, that is,. who knows about him (he never advertises) and cares to pay the $20 -a -month subscription fee, A diminutive, dapper, dark-haired man, he re- ceives an average of 25 telephone calls a day, mostly from enter- tainment people (an evening jacket in a hurry ,for Paul New- man, who'd ripped his own; a chauffeur for Ingrid Bergman; six bodyguards for Marlene Die- trich; a collapsible baby carriage that turned into a 'car -bed for Brigitte Bardot). But with astaff of ten secretaries and messenger boys, plus about 200 people who "work for me in an irregular fashion," he supplies translators, special objects d'art, "anything . that's humanly possible." "I was a theatridal agent," he explained, looking around his cramped office in a dingy gray building near Paris's Madeleine "but it was not enough that I arranged appearances and con- verts for my clients. I was also running around to the cleaners to pick up a suit It was 'Francois do this and Francois do that.' So I said to myself, mon vieux, if it's going to be like this, then either be a the- atrical agent or a fulltime valet. So I decided two years ago to be the latter, and to make a business of it. That's how I opened this office." His most bizarre request so far came from an American woman living in Paris, who wanted a penguin that would be trained to meet her guests at the apart- ment door and escort them to seats in the living room. This was one order Lano never filled, but he considers it a standoff, not a defeat. "I advised my cli- ent," he explains, 't'hat 2 could furnish the trained penguin, but it would probably die unless she refrigerated her apartment. She cancelled her order." — From NEWSWEEK Brushing Teeth Is Not Child's Play Night atter night, youngsters barely able to get their chins over the bathroom basin dab awk- wardly at their mouths with tiny toothbrushes. Parents watch and nod approvingly. But they shouldn't, Dr. Roy M. Wolff told the Greater New York Dental Meeting recently, His point: Brushing teeth isn't child's play. Parents should do the child's brushing for him until "two years after he can bathe himself —and preferably until he's 9 or 10," the St. Louis dentist de- clared. "There's no reason why a child who isn't old enough to wash his body should take care of washing his teeth. Maybe you never saw an ear fall off because of poor washing, but you do find teeth that do." Dr. Wolff pleads for parental brushing in. order to prevent pre- mature loss of the first set of molars. These are the teeth, he pointed out, which bear the mar jar share of the chewing job and help guide the second set of teeth into position, Stressing his colleagues' re- sponsibilities in the dental edtica- tion of both parent and child, Dr. Wolff noted that the common na- tion that the entire first set of teeth is replaced by the age of 0 or '7 is wrong. Molars should re- main firmly in place until 11 or 12, he insisted. "The premature loss of 'these teeth," Dr, Wolff told the New York meeting, "can cause second teeth to erupt into positions which they shouldn't occupy and neeessitate orthodon- tic treatment which might have been avoided." The St. Louis specialist, whose practice is limited to children, also had a word to say about that Old enemy of tooth enamel— segar. "I remember when soda pop was a real treat in the house- hold," the 41 -year-old dentist observed, "Now the mother conies home from the supermar- ket • with a six-pack in each hand," When a youngster eats a bar of candy or drinks a bottle of pop, he should have his teeth brushed immediately, Dr. Wolff advises. "At the very least, he should im- mediately rinse his mouth with water." With the institution or good dental care and eating habits early in life, Dr, Wolff sees little reason why adults should ever lose thee teeth, "Teeth are part of your body; people don't ordi- narily have to have their fingers removed, $o why their teeth?" he demanded. Building Monument. To A Small Dog Italian railwaymen are club- .bing together to erect a monu- ment to Lampo, the dog that "jumped" trains. Every morning at the little station of Campiglia, Lampo waited on the platform for ` the early northbound train,. When it pulled up, he hopped into the corridor and nosed his way to the dining car's kitchen, where the chef always had a tasty meal ready for him. After lapping it up, the dog de- trained at the next stop. He cross- ed over to the opposite platform and caught the next down train, back to his home town. For years, Lampo kept up this routine. His intelligence and in- itiative became a 'local byword. His name means "lightning." But one day he wasn't quick enough. As he bounced off his dinner train, Lampo missed his foothold, and slipped between the plat- form and coach. The train moved off at that moment and the dog wag crushed to death. Now his friends, the local railway workers, intend to erect a statue to hini at Campig- Iia station. A cannibal is a man who has friends in for dinner. TEA IN TREE — A hollowed - out tree trunk in London's Hyde Park serves as a novel spot for a tea party. Girls in- side the tree are Patsy Oliver,. left, and Jennifer Reck. Out- sider shown is Susan Oliver. IT'S CATCHING ON -- New serve -self -type store in Gdynia, Poland, bears a marked resemblance to stores long familiar in shopping centres throughout Canada,