"take and VP"

[Dennis R. Preston]

Wilson,

Yes; this is a familiar piece of ross-ethnic regional familiarity,
especially to me in the North; less frequent these days than years
ago.

dInIs

>I agree with you there, dInIs. If the the white speakers had had any
>traces of Down Home in their speech, I wouldn't have thought much of
>it. I would have thought, "It's just a  Southern thing, to be
>expected." I remember an embarrassing moment from my Army days. I
>heard some black GI's talking behind a closed door. Since black guys
>were rather rare in elite, non-combat units like the Army Security
>Agency, I just barged in to see who they were, where they were from,
>how they came to be in the Agency, etc.
>
>Well, it turnrd out to be a roomful of white GI's. I was so startled
>that I don't remember how I explained away my having walked in without
>bothering to knock. In any case, they were all from Louisiana, so I
>told them that I was from deep East Texas, only a hoot and a holler
>from Sreepote and we sat around shooting the shit, for a while.
>
>BTW, this social anomaly may interest you, dInIs. In those days, late
>'50's to early '60's, it was working-class soldiers from the North who
>demonstrated the most racial animosity against their black
>counterparts, not the Southern soldiers, whatever their class. It was
>like "You understand. There's nothing to laugh about in the way we
>talk. You know what sweetmilk and lighbread are. You eat hamhocks and
>black-eyed peas, mustard/turnip/collard greens. Here in Germany, we're
>all Southerners together." When we weren't on duty, I called not only
>the first sergeant, but also his *wife*, by their first names. They
>were Alabamians and my father was a native of Alabama. So, it was like
>"Old Home Week" when I got together with them. On the other hand, the
>Northern GI's referred to him as The Buzzard behind his back and
>ignored the existence of his wife.
>
>There was another time when a white Louisianan felt such a connection
>with me as a fellow Southerner that he got out his prep-school
>yearbook to impress me with whaat a BMOC he had been, forgetting that
>the yearbook revealed that, among his various other accomplishments,
>he had been president of his school's Young White Citizens Council. I
>pretended not to have noticed that, so as not to embarrass him.
>
>-Wilson
>
>
>
>On 2/14/06, Dennis R. Preston <preston at msu.edu> wrote:
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>>  Subject:      Re: "take and VP"
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Wilson,
>>
>>  Funny; my association with this use is by White, working-class high-
>>  and lowland Appalachians, not with Blacks at all.
>>
>>  I'ma haul off and change my mind on your report (just as yours was
>>  changed by your experience).
>>
>>  For me this reraises the more general question  of the similarities
>>  of White and Black speech in the South in general, and I suspect we
>>  have a lot more to learn. Who learned (borrowed, stole) what from
>>  whom?
>>
>>  dInIs
>>
>>  >For a large part of  my life, I've considered forms like:
>>  >
>>  >I took and hit him
>>  >
>>  >to be peculiar to Black English. However, I've now heard
>>  >this used by white people from states as disparate as
>>  >Connecticut and Illinois. A colleague from Connecticut
>>  >used it, bot only on very rare occasions.
>>  >
>>  >However, on today's Jerry Springer Show, there was a
>>  >white guy from Illinois who used "take and VP" in
>>  >practically every sentence, to a degree actually far greater
>>  >than I'm accustomed to hearing from black speakers. He
>>  >said things like:
>>  >
>>  >If she really loved me, she wouldn't've _took and slept_
>>  >with other guys
>>  >
>>  >When she asked me for things, I _took and gave_ them to
>>  >her, but she still _took and went out_ with other guys
>>  >
>>  >He happened to say, "We're both from the same state, Illinois."
>  > >Unfortunately, he didn't say what location in Illinois. Oddly,
>>  >neither of the other two people that he was interacting with
>>  >used "take and VP" at all.
>>  >
>>  >-Wilson Gray
>>  >
>>  >------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>>  --
>>  Dennis R. Preston
>>  University Distinguished Professor
>>  Department of English
>>  15C Morrill Hall
>>  Michigan State University
>>  East Lansing, MI 48824
>>  517-353-4736
>>  preston at msu.edu
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-353-4736
preston at msu.edu

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org