Life, 1920-08-05 · page 26 of 48
Life — August 5, 1920 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Content: "Sidestepping in the Vocabulary"** This section critiques President Wilson's word choice in a public interview. Wilson used "skulduggery" when discussing the League of Nations, but the author argues this is incorrect—"skulduggery" means vulgar or indecent behavior, not political evasion. The author suggests Wilson meant "shenanigan" instead, humorously questioning whether this was a dictaphone error from a supposedly eloquent president. **Secondary Pieces:** - "Why Not?" sarcastically proposes honoring Samuel Osgood, the first Postmaster-General, for actually delivering mail—a jab at current postal inefficiency. - "The Age of Nonentities" mocks how unqualified people can now reach high office (including presidency), suggesting the political system lacks merit-based selection. - "Free Distribution" jokes that farmers prefer auto parts to free government seeds. **Overall Theme:** The page satirizes governmental incompetence and linguistic pretension, particularly under Wilson's administration, using wordplay and ironic proposals as comedic vehicles.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sidestepping in the Vocabulary TERNAL vigilance is the price of 4 good English; and there are occa- ons which call for the organization of a vigilance committee to defend the purity of the language. The latest offender is the President of the United States—in an authorized interview, apparently reported with absolute accuracy. Mr. Wilson is a man of letters; his ardent admirers hail him as a master of style, and even those who do not like him admit his command of slick rhetoric. In this interview Mr, Wilson declared that the League of tions political skulduggery, any attempt to side- step.” Now, sidestep is an excellent ies too deep to permit of any Americanism, and it is here employed ac- curately and effectively. But skulduggery is entirely out of place, since it does not mean what Mr. Wilson seems to intend— that is, an evasion of the issue. A glance into the dictionary will show that skul- duggery always implies vulgarity, off- color ribaldry, The guess may be ven- tured that this was a slip of the dicta- phone and that the word the President meant to use was shenanigan: “it lies too deep to permit of any political she- nanigan,” That's better, isn’t it? . AL, Why Not? HY doesn’t someone start a move- ment to place Samuel Osgood in the Hall of Fame? Sam was the first Post- master-General, and the mails did move during his administration. If a letter was mailed, he saw it was delivered—even if he had to do it himself The Girl: you'ke Too LATE. 1'VE JUST PAID THE RENT TO ONE OF YOUR COMPETITORS The Age of Nonentities LL nonentities who are at present out of a job, take notice that your time has at last arrived. If you have never done anything, if you are utterly unknown, if nobody has ever heard of you, and if by no possible stretch of the imagination could it he conceived that you could be of any use, now is the time for you to assert yourself, Every nonentity has his Your day is here. You have waited long and patiently. Now you can have almost anything you want, from being chairman of a governing committee to President of the United States. Free Distribution “ ORE discussion about free seeds from Congress. Do you think farmers really’ care for the free seeds?” “T dunno, Most of ‘em would rather have automobile parts.” Re FUULte- MAN’S appearance indicates how his business is prosper- ing, and his wife's appearance shows how much he is “THERE'S MANY A SLIP” spending. comicbooks.¢onmu