Suggestions to medical writers / by George M. Gould.

  • George M. Gould
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Suggestions to medical writers / by George M. Gould. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    176/196 page 172
    ponderingly, and tracing out the subtle mutations, the nu¬ merous sidepaths of alluring, if frequently of mournful suggestion. There is no novel so dramatic and interesting as Skeat’s etymologic dictionary. Many words in present use “may be caught in the very act ” of debasement. Only one may be cited. We Eng¬ lish are nearing the danger-line in the word sentiment. A man would prefer to be spoken of as having a good char¬ acter rather than as a man of good feeling, although it was only a little while ago that he would be more highly hon¬ ored by the title of a man of feeling. It is a doubtful com¬ pliment to call him a man of sentiment, but any of us would deny that we are ever sentimental; while to call a man a sentimentalist would be positively insulting. We smile derisively at Continental men kissing each other. The histories of words are often the degree-marks of the thermometer of national emotions, and so of national char¬ acter. The disgusting liar Mercier cried out to Labori, ‘‘ Our military justice is not the same as yours,” and good men thank God for the truth spoken by the stupid blun derer, a truth very different from that meant by him, when he sought to introduce the definition of honor as dishonor, and to define justice by the word injustice. Fortunately, words as well as national character change somewhat slowly; at least it takes more than a generation of soldiers utterly to reverse the significance of the noblest of words. The comforting result which we English will come to is that though the debasement of words is common enough with us, it is less so than with other people. Virility, dignity, and honor, without undue self-flattery be it said, are Anglosaxon birthrights, and though they may lead to prides, egotisms, and overstrengths, they serve to put soul and self-possession into words, and to prevent good ones from growing weak and morbid. The essence of the mat¬ ter is by means of changes in word-formation and word- meanings to observe the psychic histories of the peoples of which the words are merely the pointers and relics.
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image