Date:  Wed, 16 Apr 1997 16:35:34 -0700
From:  Peter Richardson <prichard[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LINFIELD.EDU>
Subject: Re: plea for advice

> >hinders human relationships and must be used carefully.
>
> Must it ALWAYS "be used carefully"? Can't we sometime just thro it aroun
> like issa big ol' beach ball bouncin' in the grandstand of humanity?

You betcha. And I take what you just wrote as careful--knowledgeable--use
of the language for a specific purpose. This isn't exactly the equivalent
of the haberdasher's "sloppy chic" (I know that's not the term, but the
real one eludes me at the moment), but you have to be able to use the
language well to misuse it well...

I had, by the way, thought of using either a volume of the DARE or the
first volume of the Random House Hist. Dict. of American Slang, thinking
the students would at least have something in hand that they wouldn't want
to sell back to the bookstore at the end of the term. But then I don't
have any experience using either of these as a single text for entry-level
students. So I still need that advice, Colleagues!

 PR