Kazakhstan student's project

[Gerald Cohen]

Joan Houston Hall passed along the following Sept. 11 request for help:

>>  Hi,
>>  I'm hoping you can help me.  I have a university student staying with
>>me here in Illinois.  She's from Kazakhstan and is an English major
>>there.  She has to do a paper on American English that is now a part of
>>British, or the more universally spoken English language, i.e.
>>expressions, words, phrases that came from America that are now part of
>>British and other English.
>>  Can you suggest a source?  Thanks!
>>  Joan Drummond
>>  joandrummond at yahoo.com

In reply, _American In So Many Words_ (by David K. Barnhart and Allan A.
Metcalf
(Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1997) has quite a bit of information. Also, if
Mrs. Drummond or her student wishes to contact me for more detailed
information about some terms, I would be happy to provide it.  "Jazz,"
"shyster," "rock 'n' roll"
"I'm from Missouri, you've got to show me," "hot dog" are a few that come
to mind.
Don't forget Allen Walker Read's detailed study of "O.K."
   The student might also wish to check _ Studies in Slang_, part VI (by
Gerald Leonard Cohen and Barry A. Popik;  Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang,
1999) , both for its treatment of "I'm from Missouri, you've got to show
me" and for its listing (at the last two pages of the book) of earlier
_Studies in Slang_ volumes.

------Gerald Cohen
(Professor; research specialty: Etymology)



gcohen at umr.edu