king them out of your
mouth and leaving them at home?"[2] Unconsciously the boy had used a good
English word in a sense peculiar to the district in which he lived; his
host had understood the word in its proper sense.

On another occasion a gentleman who had just arrived at a hotel in
Kennebunkport, Me., agreed to a proposal to "go down to the beach in the
_barge_." Going to his room, he prepared for a little excursion on the
river which flowed by the hotel. When he returned, he was greatly
surprised to find his friends about to start for the beach in _a large
omnibus_. Another gentleman once asked a young lady to go "_riding_" with
him. At the appointed hour he drove to her house in a buggy, and she came
down to meet him in her riding habit.

These incidents show that if we use expressions that are only local, or
use words in local senses, we are liable either to be misunderstood or not
to be understood at all. Obscurity also arises from the use of words in
senses which are peculiar to a certain class or profession. For example,
to a person who is not familiar with commercial slang, this sentence from
the market columns of a newspaper is a puzzle:--

"Java coffees are _dull_ and _easy_, though they are _statistically
strong_."

The following directions for anchoring in a gale of wind are taken from a
book called "How to Sail a Boat":--

"When everything is ready, bring the yacht _to the wind_, and let
the sails shake _in the wind's eye_; and, so soon as she gets
_stern-way_, let go the _best bower_ anchor, taking care not to
_snub her_ too quickly, but to let considerable of the cable run
out before checking her; then take a turn or two around the
_knight-heads_," etc.

If a landsman's safety depended on his understanding these directions,
there would not be much hope for him.

The following extract is from a newspaper report of a game of ball:--

"In the eighth inning Anson jumped from one box into the other and
whacked a wide one into extreme right. It was a three-base jolt
and was made when Gastright intended to force the old man to
first. The Brooklyns howled and claimed that Anson was out, but
McQuaid thought differently. Both teams were crippled. Lange will
be laid up for a week or so. One pitcher was batted out of the
box."

This narrative may seem commonplace to school-boys, but to their mothers
and sisters it must seem alarming.

Our second con