Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 258, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1913 — Wise Compromise in Slang. [ARTICLE]

Wise Compromise in Slang.

"Good slang is permissible among school children,” according to Dr. G. Stanley Hall. Precisely the same thing is true of college boys, of college girls and of the rest of us. Slang is inevitable. To thunder against it, to ignore it, to burlesque it is equally idle. Since we cannot end it—and, really, we should not and would not if we could —the part of wisdom is endeavor to mend it. Let educators direct their satire and condemnation against vulgar, vicious, idiotic slang—of which there is abundance —and they will accomplish something. The slang that is racy, spontaneous, humorous, expressive deserves kindly toleration if not encouragement. Some of It establishes itself and becomes classical English. As to the question what good slang is, It is manifestly foolish. There is no fixed test, but persons of taste and cultivation have no difficulty in differentiating between legitimate slang and grotesque silly and offensive slang.