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Joseph Devlin Biography

Journalist

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“The English language is the tongue now current in England and her colonies throughout the world and also throughout the greater part of the United States of America. It sprang from the German tongue spoken by the Teutons, who came over to Britain after the conquest of that country by the Romans. These Teutons comprised Angles, Saxons, Jutes and several other tribes from the northern part of Germany. They spoke different dialects, but these became blended in the new country, and the composite tongue came to be known as the Anglo-Saxon which has been the main basis for the language as at present constituted and is still the prevailing element.”

LanguageUnited StatesBritainEnglishGermanRomansAnglesSaxonsTeutonsJutes
Book:How to Speak and Write Correctly
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“In employing the long sentence the inexperienced writer should not strain after the heavy, ponderous type. Johnson and Carlyle used such a type, but remember, an ordinary mortal cannot wield the sledge hammer of a giant. Johnson and Carlyle were intellectual giants and few can hope to stand on the same literary pedestal.”

LiteratureExperienceIntellectGiantThomas CarlyleCarlyleLong Sentence
Book:How to Speak and Write Correctly
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“Every person of intelligence should be able to use his mother tongue correctly. It only requires a little pains, a little care, a little study to enable one to do so, and the recompense is great. Consider the contrast between the well-bred, polite man who knows how to choose and use his words correctly and the underbred, vulgar boor, whose language grates upon the ear and jars the sensitiveness of the finer feelings. The blunders of the latter, his infringement of all the canons of grammar, his absurdities and monstrosities of language , make his very presence a pain, and one is glad to escape from his company. The proper grammatical formation of the English language , so that one may acquit himself as a correct conversationalist in the best society or be able to write and express his thoughts and ideas upon paper in the right manner, may be acquired in a few lessons.”

IntelligencePolitenessSpeakingEnglishWell Bred
Book:How to Speak and Write Correctly
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“Shakespeare was not a scholar in the sense we regard the term to-day, yet no man ever lived or probably ever will live that equalled or will equal him in the expression of thought. He simply read the book of nature and interpreted it from the standpoint of his own magnificent genius.”

MenBookTermExpressionGeniusEqualRegardScholarMagnificentStandpoint
Book:How to Speak and Write Correctly (illustrated): Fully Formatted Version
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“All the words in the English language are divided into nine great classes. These classes are called the Parts of Speech. They are Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection.”

LanguageClassSpeechNineDividedArticlesEnglish LanguageVerbsAdjectivesNounsConjunctionsPronounsAdverbsPrepositionsParts Of Speech
Book:How to Speak and Write Correctly (illustrated): Fully Formatted Version
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