And what, in this island, do we really mean by
" gentle- man" ? The Oxford English Dictionary (which is such a help) gives seven distinct interpretations, including " An apparatus used in soldering circular pewter ware " and " The gannet or solan goose." Yet it also makes it clear that the term is employed in two main senses, namely, (a) a moral sense and (b) a social sense. It is to be feared that in these days of acute class-consciousness the irritation aroused by sense (b) obscures the feelings of approval and delight which should properly be aroused by sense (a). How regrettable it is, in truth, that in Great Britain the most minute grades in privilege, the tiniest gradations in education, should be amplified and enlarged by the way we pronounce our vowel sounds. I am assured by experts in phonetics that a man has only to say the word " real:y " for them to be able to judge with certainty whether he be an old-Etonian, an old-Harrovian, an old-Wykehamist, an old-Carthusian, or just one of us others. This is unfortunate. Among those who pronounce " really " really badly it creates indignant humiliation ; and it is only a source of embarrass- ment to those who pronounce " really " really well.
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