re midnight writing, Appalachia.

[Dennis R. Preston]

Gid fer yew; I hope that gal larnt you some other good stuff too.

dInIs (an English Professor who has always said /gIt/)

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Judith Marie <Judith_H_Marie at COMPUSERVE.COM>
>Subject:      re midnight writing, Appalachia.
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Thank you for welcoming me.
>
>But I'm afraid the bon mot on the 12:05 and 12:10 AM writing time was way
>off the mark and must apply to your time. It was around 9 A.M. here in
>Paris, "donc" some 9 hours later than on the U.S. west coast.
>
>As to Akron's large Appalachian immigrant work force, my mother hired a
>young girl from West Virginia to take care of us after school for several
>years. To my parents' despair (my father was an English professor) I
>forever after tended to say "git" instead of "get".
>
>Judith Hamilton
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
It should be the chief aim of a university professor to exhibit
himself [sic] in his own true character - that is, as an ignorant man
thinking, actively utilizing his small share of knowledge. Alfred
North Whitehead

Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1036 USA
Office: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755

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