* Regional accents and dialects were much more pronounced. People from different regions of a country, even those relatively close to each other, often had distinct ways of speaking.
* Formal language was highly valued. People were expected to use proper grammar and avoid slang. This is especially true in formal settings like business meetings or interactions with authority figures.
* Vocabulary was different. Some words that are common today weren't used in 1900, and others had different meanings. For example, the word "cool" in 1900 meant "stylish" or "fashionable", not "awesome" or "great" like it does today.
* Slang was still present, but it was often more specific to certain groups. For example, people working in specific trades might have their own slang, or young people might have terms that were different from those used by older generations.
* Tempo of speech might have been slower. This is a generalization, but people today tend to speak more quickly than they did in the past.
* Technology influenced language. The invention of the telephone, for instance, led to new ways of talking and new phrases related to communicating over long distances.
To get a better sense of how people talked in 1900, you can look at:
* Literature from the period: Novels, plays, and poetry written in 1900 will give you a good idea of the language used by different social classes and regions.
* Historical recordings: While not as common as they are today, there are some audio recordings from the early 1900s that can give you a glimpse of how people spoke.
Remember, language is constantly changing, so it's impossible to perfectly recreate how people talked in 1900. But by looking at various sources, you can get a good sense of the key features of language at that time.