weedeat

[Sarah Lang]

In Alberta we weedwhack or whippersnip/snap? with the weedwhacker or
whippersnipper. But I suppose if I were using The Weedeater, I could
have Weedated.

S.

On Jul 3, 2007, at 10:19 AM, John M. Spartz wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "John M. Spartz" <jspartz at PURDUE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: weedeat
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
> In Minnesota, where I grew up, some of us 'weedeated' and others
> 'weedwhipped'...
>
> Personally, I 'weedeated' as a kid because the brand of machine we
> had was a
> Weedeater (http://www.poulanpro.com/poulanpro/indexAction.do?
> id=default).
>
> But, when I got the the University of Minnesota as an undergrad, I
> 'weedwhipped'
> (http://www.facm.umn.edu/safety/Landcare/weedwhip.PDF).
>
> John
> __________________________________________
> John M. Spartz
> jspartz at purdue.edu
> English Linguistics
> Purdue University
>
>
> Quoting Paul Johnson <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Paul Johnson <paulzjoh at MTNHOME.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: weedeat
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>
>> Here in North Central Ar. we weed wack/whack
>>
>> Charles Doyle wrote:
>>> A teenager told me that she and a friend had been doing yard
>>> work: "She
>> mowed, and I weedeated." Yes, "weedeated" does seem like a better
>> preterit
>> than "weedate" (1880 Google hits vs. 105). The OED appears not to
>> have
>> "weedeater" or any backformed form (?!).
>>>
>>> --Charlie
>>> _____________________________________________________________
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> American justice: When Paris does more time than Scooter
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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