While Tom was eating his supper, and stealing sugar as opportunity offered, Aunt Polly asked him questions that were full of guile, and very deep—for she wanted to trap him into damaging revealments. Like many other simple-hearted souls, it was her pet vanity to believe she was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy, and she loved to contemplate her most transparent devices as marvels of low cunning. Said she:

“Tom, it was middling warm in school, warn’t it?”

“Yes’m.”

“Powerful warm, warn’t it?”

“Yes’m.”

“Didn’t you want to go in a-swimming, Tom?”

A bit of a scare shot through Tom—a touch of uncomfortable suspicion. He searched Aunt Polly’s face, but it told him nothing. So he said:

“No’m—well, not very much.”

The old lady reached out her hand and felt Tom’s shirt, and said:

“But you ain’t too warm now, though.” And it flattered her to reflect that she had discovered that the shirt was dry without anybody knowing that that was what she had in her mind. But in spite of her, Tom knew where the wind lay, now. So he forestalled what might be the next move:

“Some of us pumped on our heads—mine’s damp yet. See?

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 Got these notes from ChatGPT:

While Tom was eating his supper, and stealing sugar as opportunity offered, Aunt Polly asked him questions that were full of guile, and very deep—for she wanted to trap him into damaging revealments.

Usage today:

• Partially outdated, especially in vocabulary like “guile” and “damaging revealments”. The structure is still valid.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: While Tom was eating dinner and sneaking sugar when he could, Aunt Polly started grilling him with sneaky questions—she was trying to make him slip up.

• Formal: While Tom was having his supper and discreetly taking sugar, Aunt Polly posed deeply probing questions, intending to elicit incriminating information.

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Like many other simple-hearted souls, it was her pet vanity to believe she was endowed with a talent for dark and mysterious diplomacy, and she loved to contemplate her most transparent devices as marvels of low cunning.

Usage today:

• Mostly outdated. Words like “pet vanity,” “simple-hearted souls,” and “low cunning” are uncommon.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: Like a lot of others who mean well, she prided herself on being a mastermind at secret manipulation—even though her tricks were obvious to everyone.

• Formal: As with many earnest individuals, she took pride in what she believed was a gift for subtle manipulation, though her methods were quite transparent.

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Said she:

Grammar:

• Inversion used for literary effect; archaic form of "she said."

Usage today:

• Not used today, unless in literary or historical writing.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: She said:

• Formal: She remarked:

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“Tom, it was middling warm in school, warn’t it?”

Grammar:

• Direct question with slang: “middling” = moderately; “warn’t” = dialect for “wasn’t.”

Usage today:

• Outdated. “Warn’t” is obsolete; “middling” rarely used in this sense.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: Tom, it was kinda warm in school today, wasn’t it?

• Formal: Tom, was it rather warm in school today?

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“Yes’m.”

Grammar:

• Contraction of “Yes, ma’am,” informal.

Usage today:

• Still used, especially in Southern U.S., but less common.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: Yeah, ma’am.

• Formal: Yes, ma’am.

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“Powerful warm, warn’t it?”

Grammar:

• Another inverted question. “Powerful” used adverbially (old American dialect, as "very").

Usage today:

• Not used. Both “powerful” and “warn’t” like this are archaic.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: Really warm, huh?

• Formal: It was quite warm, wasn’t it?

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“Didn’t you want to go in a-swimming, Tom?”

Grammar:

• Past tense question with dialectic phrasing “go in a-swimming.”

Usage today:

• Not used. "Go in a-swimming" is an archaic dialect.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: Didn’t you want to go swimming, Tom?

• Formal: Did you feel like swimming today, Tom?

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A bit of a scare shot through Tom—a touch of uncomfortable suspicion.

Usage today:

• Mostly usable, though slightly literary.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: Tom suddenly felt a little scared—like something wasn’t right.

• Formal: A momentary feeling of unease passed through Tom—a hint of suspicion.

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He searched Aunt Polly’s face, but it told him nothing.

Usage today:

• Still acceptable, readable today.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: He looked at Aunt Polly’s face, but it didn’t give anything away.

• Formal: He studied Aunt Polly’s expression, but found no clues.

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“No’m—well, not very much.”

Alternatives:

• Conversational: No, ma’am—well, not really.

• Formal: No, ma’am—though not entirely.

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The old lady reached out her hand and felt Tom’s shirt, and said:

Alternatives:

• Conversational: She reached out and felt Tom’s shirt, then said:

• Formal: The woman extended her hand, felt Tom’s shirt, and said:

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“But you ain’t too warm now, though.”

Alternatives:

• Conversational: But you’re not too warm now, are you?

• Formal: However, you don’t seem warm now.

----------------------

And it flattered her to reflect that she had discovered that the shirt was dry without anybody knowing that that was what she had in her mind.

Usage today:

• Usable, though quite formal and literary.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: She was proud of herself for figuring out his shirt was dry without anyone catching on to what she was up to.

• Formal: She was pleased to think she had deduced that his shirt was dry without revealing her intentions.

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But in spite of her, Tom knew where the wind lay, now.

Grammar:

• Idiom (“knew where the wind lay” = knew what was going on).

Usage today:

• Outdated idiom, wouldn’t be recognized today.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: But Tom figured out what she was getting at.

• Formal: However, Tom now understood her intentions.

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So he forestalled what might be the next move:

Grammar:

• Verb “forestalled” means to act in advance. 

Usage today:

• Still usable, though “forestalled” is uncommon in everyday speech.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: So he got ahead of her next move:

• Formal: Thus, he preempted what she might say next:

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“Some of us pumped on our heads—mine’s damp yet. See?”

Usage today:

• Outdated phrasing. The imagery is archaic.

Alternatives:

• Conversational: Some of us splashed water on our heads—mine’s still wet. Look.

• Formal: We poured water over our heads—mine is still damp. Observe.

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