ict themselves,
and so show that they have been untruthful. It is necessary, then, for
such a person, unless he wishes to be found out, to remember exactly
what lies he has told.

Many proverbs have remained in the English language, not so much for
the wisdom they contain as for the way in which they express it. Some
are in the form of a rhyme--as, "Birds of a feather flock together,"
and "East and west, home is best." These are always favourites.

Others catch the ear because of their alliteration; that is to say,
two or three of their words begin with the same letter. Examples of
this are: "Look before you leap." The proverb "A stitch in time saves
nine" has something of both these attractions, though it is not
exactly a rhyme. Other examples of alliteration in proverbs are:
"Delays are dangerous," "Speech is silvern, silence is golden."

A few proverbs are witty as well as wise, and these are, perhaps, the
best of all, since they do not, as a rule, exasperate the people to
whom they are quoted, as many proverbs are apt to do. Usually these
witty proverbs are metaphors.

CHAPTER XV.

SLANG.

Every child has some idea of what is meant by "slang," because most
schoolboys and schoolgirls have been corrected for using it. By slang
we mean words and expressions which are not the ordinary words for the
ideas which they express, but which are invented as new names or
phrases for these ideas, and are at first known and used only by a few
people who use them just among themselves. There are all kinds of
slang--slang used by schoolboys and schoolgirls in general, slang used
by the pupils of each special school, slang used by soldiers, a
different slang used by their officers, and even slang used by members
of Parliament.

The chief value of slang to the people who use it is that at first, at
any rate, it is only understood by the inventors and their friends.
The slang of any public school is continually changing, because as
soon as the expressions become known and used by other people the
inventors begin to invent once more, and get a new set of slang terms.
Sometimes a slang word will be used for years by one class of people
without becoming common because it describes something of which
ordinary people have no experience, and therefore do not mention.

The making of slang is really the making of language. Early men must
have invented new words just as the slang-makers do to-day. The
difference is that there