The Quiet Corner
459 THE QUIET CORNER "I counsel thee, shut not thy heart nor thy library."—C. Lamb. "There has been much protest recently in the English press, against the Americanizing of London," said Dr....
...but let us begin first with the injury done that fine and honorable old heritage, own child of our glorious country—the American accent...
...I'm going to act in some amateur theatricals," admitted...
...He shook his head perplexedly as I pronounced the great poet's name...
...I remember a London bobby who guarded one of the museums in London...
...Why are you taking lessons in diction...
...demanded Miss Anonymoncule, who was taking lessons in diction...
...For us, our pronunciation possesses the beauty of the advantage of its being distinguishable from that of the English —an advantage that renders us able, on meeting strangers, to know at once whether they are countrymen or not, thus avoiding such embarrassing contretemps as the telling of an American joke to a representative of a race that laughs in the middle, when at all This alone is justification enough for the American accent—but there are also other reasons why we should continue carefully to talk through our noses and to flatten our Vs.1 " "What are they...
...But likewise, I am for the slogan, 'New York for the New Yorker.' Let us start a campaign against the Anglicizing of New York...
...To bring the danger closer to home, think for a moment what would happen right here in our own library, if we should, in a conscientious attempt to use the broad 'a,' call Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mor...
...Well," said the Doctor, "it is obvious that the broad 'a,' as advocated by the English, can, if carried to extremes, prove most annoying, not to say illiterate...
...asked Miss Anonymoncule...
...Whereupon light dawned, and he said, patronizingly—'Oh, yes, you mean Daunty.' "It would be a terrible thing if the accent of our New York policeman, possessed of its own peculiar beauty, were to be corrupted by that of the London bobby...
...Now Gilbert may have sung—'There is beauty in the bellow of the blast,' but I would add, in the same vein—'and in English spoken with a nasal accent.' It may be a beauty that only our own countrymen can appreciate—but beauty, as has so often been said, is purely relative...
...Long articles, nay editorials, have appeared, on the outrageousness of disturbing that artistic, misty darkness that has been wont to overhang the ancient city in its evening hours, by the introduction of the electric signs that have made Broadway famous...
...What English customs, introduced into America, do you oppose...
...Now undoubtedly, it is fair to say, 'London for the Londoner'—and if the true Britisher prefers his great city wrapped in gloom, he deserves to have it that way...
...Angelicus...
...asked Angelicus, suspiciously...
...We should fight vigorously against the English pollution of our tongue, growing so widespread with the yearly flock of British lecturers...
...I fear she would leave the library forever...
...There are many...
...Eventually I had to spell Dante out for him...
...Oh, dear," said Miss Anonymoncule, "I shall have to unlearn all my lessons in diction...
...The insidious attempt to Anglicize it is constantly going on...
...and pushing the matter further, if we should refer to that delightful associate of ours who is a graduate of that college, as a Bryn Moron...
...I approached him to ask where I could find a certain signature of Dante on exhibition there...
Vol. 2 • September 1925 • No. 19
