How to Talk Correctly * by Professor George P. Duncan is the snobbiest book on my bookshelves.
A pocket manual to promote ** polite and accurate conversation, writing and reading; correct spelling and pronunciation; with more than 500 errors in speaking and writing corrected!
The preface cemented my judgment:
“The principal objects in preparing this little Manual, have been to furnish in a condensed form, such an exposition of the whole subject of language as will enable any person of common intelligence, by study and perseverance in practice, to avoid most of the gross errors which mar the speech of many people, and to use the noble English tongue with correctness and elegance.
The design of this Manual is to meet the needs of the great masses of the ‘people,’ *** rather than those of the ‘educated classes,’ *** though we presume that even they would derive profit from perusing and studying it.”
And a hint of its **** previous owner, M. Revill.
* Produced in complete conformity with the Book Production War Economy Standard sometime in the 1940s.
** Because “inaccurate speaking and writing degrade a person, though weighed down with wealth and clothed in the most sumptuous attire”.
*** Placement of commas within quotation marks, American-style?
**** I wonder what Professor Duncan will make of the butchering of “its” and “it’s”.
Replies
read me…: Towpath was full of parents with young children while I was there, so you’ll fit in very soon. I’m planning to have Ferry adopted at some point, just working out what is the best kind of home for her to go to.
Helen: We were talking about the cake still the next day. So good…
lucie777: I tried to find the album but it’s not available on iTunes. I only had that one song from In the Mood for Love soundtrack.
Kitty: I prefer corn-fed hen eggs actually, much more flavour, though quail eggs always bring back childhood memories as we’ll have them hard-boiled in our steamboat dinner every Chinese New Year.
chiisaiko: Oh, I remember school excursions and snacking on the school buses!
Barbara, Miki, lrntn, J Duribreux, Spela and Tara (via contact form): Thank you for your messages!
Lucy: The smock is an antique linen one from France, possibly indigo over-dyed by the shop people in Tokyo where it was bought from. I love it too, it was a birthday present.
Lili: It’s a TCM theory to keep your body in the same conditions as your surroundings so as to blend in and feel better. It feels hot while eating pho but I feel much better after that, for a little while.
ramen girl: There is a white camo version too, very pretty.
Clara: The G1 is not an SLR, it’s Micro Four Thirds. Just some technical terms really. I’m using 20mm pancake lens on the G1, very light and much better-quality than the kit lens. Today’s weather wasn’t so bad, it rained, but it’s not so good either.
A note on: book, culture, iottmms, old, panasonic lumix dmc-g1
Really? Is it a family tradition ? I will suggest that to my family for next new years. I think a good grammer book is essential for me, since English is not my native language sometimes I still mess up!
So did you learn anything new from that snobbish book? :p
I would love a book like that. Snobby book would be my joke book for the day :D
I would love to read a book like that – books from the not too distant past about customs, style, decorum fascinate me – pity these books are hard to find here, and finding one with that mysterious film (I don’t remember if that’s what you call it) would take near-impossible good luck.
One great one that still sounds perfectly sensible, relevant and 100% unsnobby – not to mention dead useful – is The Elements of Style by William Srunk Jr and E B White, from 1918. It’s still in print. Have a look if you can!