No subject

Frank Abate fabate at BLR.COM
Wed May 24 21:03:44 UTC 2000


RE: busking, busker

3 out of 4 of the US college dicts label this as "British" or "chiefly British" (AHCD does not).

This is not conclusive, but it suggests a greater tendency to hear the term from Brits than from Americans.

Many words are in a middle ground, used on both sides of the Atlantic, but more by one side than the other.  And usage within America often differs by region.

Do others have hard evidence for busk in the US?  More than just personal knowledge of the term (which can be misleading)?

Frank Abate

Grant Barrett <gbarrett at americandialect.org> wrote:
>
> On Wednesday, May 24, 2000, Kathleen Miller <millerk at NYTIMES.COM> wrote:
> > > Can anyone think of American equivalents that sound as unique
> >as ligging and busking?
> > Busking is standard American usage, at least in my circles. People in New York
> usually refer to people playing on the subway platforms as buskers, but it seems to imply
> playing for tips.
> > "Ligger" in my opinion, currently making the round of journalists, as such words
> tend to do. I don't have access to Nexis right now, but I know I've seen it several
> places recently but not before.
> > Grant
>



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