--_Smollett_.
_See also_ Witnesses.
EXAGGERATION
_A War Lexicon_
In a letter to the editor of the New York Sun an anonymous writer
gives the following important interpretations of various phrases of
"Desperanto," or the language indulged in by frantic telegraph editors
on American newspapers:
Terrific Slaughter--Sixteen French and seventeen Germans wounded.
Hurled Back--The withdrawal of an advanced outpost.
Thousands of Prisoners--Three German farmers arrested.
Deadly Air Battle--French aeroplane seen in the distance.
Gigantic Army of Invasion--Two troops of cavalry on a reconnaissance.
Overwhelming Force--A sergeant and a detail of twelve men.
Fierce Naval Battle--Mysterious sounds heard at sea.
Americans Outrageously Maltreated--One American asked to explain why
his trunk contained maps of German roads.
Bottled Up--A fleet at anchor.
Trapped--An army in camp.
Rout--An orderly retreat.
Heroism--A failure of soldiers to run away in the face of danger.
Decisive Conflict--A skirmish of outposts.
A man with a look of business on his face came to a hotel-keeper, and
asked him if he would buy two carloads of frogs' legs.
"Two carloads!" said the man in amazement.
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