Life, 1924-05-15 · page 10 of 46
Life — May 15, 1924 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Content:** A humorous essay by Don Herald criticizing dialect storytelling, particularly Scottish dialect stories. Herald argues these tales are tedious and that storytellers should translate dialect into standard English for clarity and brevity. **Cartoon Illustration:** Shows a sphinx (classical figure of mystery and silence) with the caption: "ISN'T IT MARVELOUS HOW SO SMALL A SPHINX CAN CONTAIN SUCH AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF SILENCE?" **The Satire:** Herald's essay mocks the then-popular practice of entertaining audiences with heavy Scottish-dialect narratives—a common comedy genre of the era. The sphinx cartoon reinforces his point about silence being preferable to prolonged, incomprehensible storytelling. **Social Context:** In early 20th-century America, ethnic dialect humor was mainstream entertainment, though increasingly criticized as tedious.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE - words, tarry, not Dit MUMC —™ It Seems There Were Two Scotchmen By Don Herold *[uERE must not be any more tell of funny stories in dialect Will everybody please stop telli them? I think it would be much better Even when they are told quite well, it is embarrassing to listen to them No matter what the dialect is, there is something about a dialect story from the lips of a great big grown man that gives us the feeling that the great big grown man is talking haby-talk After all, there is nothing much to a funny story but the point, and the quicker more simply the point is made the better. Dialect makes the stories ger and harder to tell, and it does not improve the point. The sim ple statement that there were once two Scotchmen is evidence enough that the story is about two Scotchmen. The story teller need not do a vaudeville act to convince us that the story is about two Scotchmen. If he will just give us the point in English translation and get his story over as soon as possible, he can dispense with the dialect. Scotch dialect is somehow worst of all This is not only because Scotch stories are all alike and all no good, but because there is a certain suggestion of laryngeal contortion in Scotch dialect which is entirely harrowing. It is al- most as gruesome as it would be if the story teller were to throw his shoulder out of place to help make his point One of the worst features of dialect stories is that the tellers invariably let their dialect run over into what should be the straight English part of the story. They begin to talk Scotch be- fore the Scotchmen begin to talk. They lead up to the dialect with dialect and shade off with dialect. The best story tellers are the worst Their stories are always the longest and they have an assurance which no self-appointed entertainer should enjoy Irvin Cobb is perhaps about the worst short-story teller of all, because he is so good. A story teller should have a lot of humility, and he should translate his story into English, and he should get it over with immediately. He should use no dialect. And, if possible, he should not tell the story all. = — & COOLIDCE _ From the Correspondence of a Truthful Man MY bese Mes. ——: In reply to your invitation to dine with you and go to the theatre on Wednesday next, I would put the fol lowing questions (a) Who else will be at dinner? (b) What will you serve in the way of alcohol? (ce) Where are we dining? (d) What is the name of the play? (e) Have you good seat If the answers to these queries are favorable, I shall’ be delighted to ac- cept your hospitality. If unfavorable, I must decline Yours most sincerely Rocer Jones. oe Drax Miss ——— I have just received your silly little note asking me to fork up thirty (30) good iron men for three (3) tickets (which you enclose) to some asinine subscription dance on the twenty-fifth of the month. feed I say I have already consigned them to the waste-hasket? You should know, by this time? that I invariably steer clear of all such doings. Sincerely, R. Jones. Sr: I think you are a rascal and a crook However, send me another case of the same. LIFE: ISN'T IT MARVELOUS HOW SO SMALL A SPHINX CAN CONTAIN SUCH AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF SILENCE? comicbooks.com