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Article ON IMPRUDENT FRIENDSHIPS. Page 1 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Imprudent Friendships.
ON IMPRUDENT FRIENDSHIPS .
lloc primum setitio , nisi in bonis amicitiam esse non jiosse . CicEiid . wa >^ n 3 sesiBiaKini ^^ aBM » HiBB < iaBa
THE difficulties which foreigners frequently complain of , in acquiring a knowledge of the English language , are many . In particular , they tell us , that they are puzzled in their studies , and perplexed in their attempts to speak , from the circumstance of many words having the same meaning . They also object , that the same word often possesses five or six different meanings . But these difficulties are not confined to foreigners only ; they often lie in our-own
way ; and it is not unfrequent to hear a company of literary gentlemen disputing about the meaning of a word that ought to have been fixed long before they were born . Every person who attempts a ne \ v dictionary of our language , provided he is not a mere copyist , - Will soon find that the fixing of the meanings of certain very common words is his greatest difficulty .
The difficulty will also be heig htened when we consider that it is often in vain to trace a word back to its first appearance in the language , with a view to give its orig inal meaning . That original meaning , if it can be acquired , is of little use . If I were to call a man a knave , or a villain , I question much whether his resentment would abate , on my convincing him that these words orig inally meant nothing reproachful to the moral character . To critics and lexicographers , however , I shall leave the definition of mere words , and only observe , that in conversation we much
oftener hear common Words used in an improper sense , than those which are less common and more erudite . The words paradox , problem , Sec . are never misrepresented ; whereas others , such as honour , reputation , friendship , Sec . are scarcely ever quoted , unless . to be misapplied . The words friendship undfriend are used , indeed , in such a variety of sensesall differentthat it is almost impossible to recognise the genuine
, , features of that old-fashioned thing called friendship among such a group of unaccountables . A spendthrift , after various attempts to borrow money , complains with a si gh , that he lias not a friend left in the world ; and another , who has not quite reached this period , talks , with some pleasure , of meeting a dozen or two of' friends to dinner at a tavern . —Benjamin Bribewell , esq . invites his friends to meet at a
public hall , and proceed from thence in a body ! and Captain Swagger , of the Guards , who has accepted a challenge , requests a brotherofficer to go out with him as his friend , and see that he be fairly run through the body . Ladies who prefer keepers to husbands , usually call them their friends ; and a highwayman who quarrels with his accomplices concerning the distribution of the booty , wonders that there should be any bickerings among friends . Nor is it very uncommon to read in the papers , that two coal-heavers or butchers , VOL . Ill , P
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Imprudent Friendships.
ON IMPRUDENT FRIENDSHIPS .
lloc primum setitio , nisi in bonis amicitiam esse non jiosse . CicEiid . wa >^ n 3 sesiBiaKini ^^ aBM » HiBB < iaBa
THE difficulties which foreigners frequently complain of , in acquiring a knowledge of the English language , are many . In particular , they tell us , that they are puzzled in their studies , and perplexed in their attempts to speak , from the circumstance of many words having the same meaning . They also object , that the same word often possesses five or six different meanings . But these difficulties are not confined to foreigners only ; they often lie in our-own
way ; and it is not unfrequent to hear a company of literary gentlemen disputing about the meaning of a word that ought to have been fixed long before they were born . Every person who attempts a ne \ v dictionary of our language , provided he is not a mere copyist , - Will soon find that the fixing of the meanings of certain very common words is his greatest difficulty .
The difficulty will also be heig htened when we consider that it is often in vain to trace a word back to its first appearance in the language , with a view to give its orig inal meaning . That original meaning , if it can be acquired , is of little use . If I were to call a man a knave , or a villain , I question much whether his resentment would abate , on my convincing him that these words orig inally meant nothing reproachful to the moral character . To critics and lexicographers , however , I shall leave the definition of mere words , and only observe , that in conversation we much
oftener hear common Words used in an improper sense , than those which are less common and more erudite . The words paradox , problem , Sec . are never misrepresented ; whereas others , such as honour , reputation , friendship , Sec . are scarcely ever quoted , unless . to be misapplied . The words friendship undfriend are used , indeed , in such a variety of sensesall differentthat it is almost impossible to recognise the genuine
, , features of that old-fashioned thing called friendship among such a group of unaccountables . A spendthrift , after various attempts to borrow money , complains with a si gh , that he lias not a friend left in the world ; and another , who has not quite reached this period , talks , with some pleasure , of meeting a dozen or two of' friends to dinner at a tavern . —Benjamin Bribewell , esq . invites his friends to meet at a
public hall , and proceed from thence in a body ! and Captain Swagger , of the Guards , who has accepted a challenge , requests a brotherofficer to go out with him as his friend , and see that he be fairly run through the body . Ladies who prefer keepers to husbands , usually call them their friends ; and a highwayman who quarrels with his accomplices concerning the distribution of the booty , wonders that there should be any bickerings among friends . Nor is it very uncommon to read in the papers , that two coal-heavers or butchers , VOL . Ill , P