"Scown"

[Jonathan Lighter]

A quick and dirty Googlification reveals no "scowns."

Except, of course, as a surname...

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: "Scown"
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That certainly seems to be a reasonable conclusion, though I would say
"a" rather than "the." But what I''m actually wondering is whether
"scown" or some similar word is in use outside of Harrison County in
East Texas and, so far, the only place that I've ever heard this word
used. According to some sources, e.g. The Los Angeles Times, Marshall,
the county seat of Harrison County and my birthplace, is the western
terminus of the old Black Belt. So, I've been more or less idly
wondering whether there might be relict words, phrases, or usages that
might be peculiar to that area that might have died out elsewhere, or
vice versa. "Scown" came to mind as a possibility.

-Wilson Gray

On Jun 30, 2005, at 8:00 AM, Margaret Lee wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Margaret Lee
> Subject: Re: "Scown"
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> It sounds to me like the AAE version of 'scoundrel.'
>
>
> Wilson Gray wrote:
> Is anyone else familiar with "scown" (rhymes with "clown"). Its meaning
> is akin to that of "rascal," to the extent that it can be used both of
> humans as a mild insult and of animals.
>
> Get up, you lazy scown!/rascal!
>
> Look at that scown/rascal go! E.g. of a rabbit being chased by a dog/of
> a dog chasing a rabbit
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
>
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