December 2006

Talking about words: Don't say words badly

By Richard W. Bailey

Taking the pledge is an American expression for promising not to partake of "ardent spirits" (as the first known use of pledge with this meaning put it in 1829).

Taking and making a pledge was (and is) a solemn business. Women, who saw their men marvelously rescued from drunkenness by taking the pledge, thought that other wonders might be worked with the same technique.

Social problems inspired pledges, and one social problem that might be addressed by this method was bad English. In 1909, an eminent professor from Harvard thought he had hit the source of it: "…the teacher of English in the city schools is swamped by the ever-increasing flood of the foreign-born, and must not infrequently impart the rudiments of the language to children who out of school hear only Italian or Yiddish or some dialect of Bohemia or Poland."

No better solution to this problem could be devised than taking the pledge formulated by the Chicago Woman’s Club in 1918.

Pledge for Children

I love the United States of America. I love my country’s flag. I love my country’s language. I promise:

1. That I will not dishonor my country’s speech by leaving off the last syllables of words.

2. That I will say a good American "yes" and "no" in place of an Indian grunt "um-hum" and "nupum" or a foreign "ya" or "yeh" and "nope."

3. That I will do my best to improve American speech by avoiding loud, rough tones, by enunciating distinctly, and by speaking pleasantly, clearly, and sincerely.

4. That I will learn to articulate clearly as many words as possible during the year.

The appeal to patriotism in this pledge arose from the "numberless settlements of foreigners, both in this city and throughout [Illinois]." The women who proposed it liked the idea of having Americans give "their language to the foreign-born worker, leading him to love and revere it." They would wish to receive it in its purest form.

Not all these campaigns for English were voluntary. With the entry of the United States into World War I, vigorous measures were applied (especially in the Midwest) to promote "Americanism." Employers were forced to adopt English-only policies in the work place. In Missouri, telephone companies were ordered to disconnect any conversations conducted in a foreign language. Worship services were forbidden if they employed modern languages other than English. Instruction in German was abolished at the University of Texas; in a spasm of patriotism, the governor had vetoed the budget for funding it.

On May 25, 1920, a teacher in Nebraska was convicted of teaching a 10-year-old child to read in German at the Zion Parochial School. Such teaching had been made unlawful in 1919. It took a decision of the United States Supreme Court to reverse the case.

As far as I know, nobody was brought to court for saying nupum. But Good English campaigns were common and ardent. In 1920, all of the Galesburg School in Illinois turned out for a parade. There were 36 tableaux. Here are two of them.

1) Two girls.

A) Neatly dressed
— Poster: "I understand."

B) Green sweater, red plain skirt, immense ear bobs, rouge
— Poster: "I Gitcha"

2) Boy in High School sweater and cap, leading small white dog with big bow of High School colors about its neck
— Poster: "Even my Dog speaks correct English."

The procession ended with a girl representing the Statue of Liberty and a boy by her side dressed as Uncle Sam.

The audience, standing, sang the "Star-Spangled Banner." We hope they had learned to articulate clearly and avoid saying words badly. Patriotism inspired them to get things right.

Richard W. Bailey is Fred Newton Scott Collegiate Professor of English at the University of Michigan. His latest publication (co-edited with Colette Moore and Marilyn Miller) is an edition of a chronicle of daily life in London written by a merchant in the middle of the sixteenth century. This electronic book incorporates images of the manuscript, a transcript of the writing it contains, and a modernization of the text for easy reading. Thanks to the University of Michigan Library and the University Press, the work is freely available to all: http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/machyn/