The Queen's English (?) Up to Date. By " Anglophil."
(Literary Revision and Translation Office.)—" Anglophil " would have done better to omit his (" ? ") after " English." Irony thus mechanically pointed is not effective. Doubtless he hits many blots in popular writing. But he goes too far. It is quite time, for instance, that "folk" should be used rather than "folks." But does not Shake- speare have,— "In winter's tedious nights, sit by the fire With good old /O,, and let them toll thee titles"?
Again, it may be said of "people " that it ought not to be used for "persons ;" nevertheless, the colloquialism has found its way into literature. Arbuthnot and Swift use it. It is hypercritical to object to such a phrase as " the fact of a White man penetrating it." There can be no real objection to the phrase, "A most atten- tive list( ner ; " " most " is equal to the Latin maxime, and need not be changed to " very." " Hills thick clothed with trees " would certainly stand in verse, if not in prose. In short, the author is commonly right, but ho wants moderation,
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