Judge, 1902-03-08 · page 3 of 16
Judge — March 8, 1902 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct elements: 1. **"A New Vocabulary"** - A satirical essay with illustration mocking how parents use simplified "baby talk" with infants, arguing this practice is unnecessary and impedes language development. 2. **"Style in Bugville"** - A cartoon showing Mrs. Spider telling Mrs. Bee she's tired of old-fashioned web design and is "crocheting something fancy" instead. This appears to be light social satire on fashion trends and keeping up appearances. 3. **"Almost a Freak"** - A drawing-room scene where Mrs. Richmond asks if someone is "really so very eccentric," with the response that she "goes to the opera to hear the music." This satirizes social pretension among wealthy women who attend opera for social status rather than genuine appreciation. All three pieces mock various forms of affectation and social convention in early 20th-century middle/upper-class society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A NEW VOCABULARY. said the wise person, “that some eminent philologist is again monkey- ing with the language of the world in 7 the effort to combine them in one tongue that no one will want to learn, but everybody can under- stand. It has always been a matter of surprise to me that none of these .word-arrangers has ever grasped the amazing possibilities of baby-talk as a universal, time-saving method of conversation. Instead of delving into the dusty dimness of antiquity for Saxon and Sans- krit roots, and making it neces- sary for one to master ten lan- guages to learn one, why do they not go into the nursery with an open mind and a note- book and compile a new mother-tongue that will catch everybody 2 Here he paused for a ques- tion, but, as none was forthcom- ing, he went on: “What [mean is this: You take any baby that has an in- telligent, quick-witted mother, and it can make its wants known with less expenditure of breath than a de man, If it says knows that a pin is sticking it, ind-dumb, Wow ™ she SD ee) Syn fh \ ah INI Ry EN Pui MH) efi x IN PLINY St diay Hi nN é Hy “ Cs- Diane that it has colic. If it says * Ah-goo" she makes a rapid-fire translation which proves that the child has said that it wants to see papa or that it feels good. If it says “ Gup” she will at once tell you ‘that it means “look at the horse.” If it says + Boo” she can tell you without a moment's hesitation that it de- sires a peep at its picture-book. And so on ad infinitum, and ad infantum, for that matter. By jing! We don’t want Volapik or any other old universal lan- guage, but asa time and tongue saver and word-condenser we aced the adoption of baby- talk.” Then, with a sarcastic glance at the young father, he concluded : “Besides, it would keep a lot of people from telling us what their children had tried to say.” Web. seser CONCENTRATING HIS EFFORTS. G6]5 Bighed still engaged in the cternal, everlasting elevation of the stage “Well, E think it can be done xradually and by slow degrees. At pre he’s most or that it wants its dinner, or that it wants to turn over, or mrs, Richmon Mrs. Bronxsox: STYLE IN BUGVILLE. Mrs. Spioer—"' Yes, Mrs. Bug: | was getting tired of the old-style web. so I'm crocheting something fancy.” ALMOST A FREAK. Is she really so very eccentric 2" busil wed ina movement for the elevation of the coon: song.” cH—"* Rather, She goes to the opera to hear the music.”” comicbooks.com