For "quarter" is it ~kworter or ~korter.

[Jonathan Lighter]

Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't.  I believe that as a kid I did not.

  JL

Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Tom Zurinskas
Subject: For "quarter" is it ~kworter or ~korter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do most USA folks put a "w" in the word "quarter"?

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at
authorhouse.com.





>From: sagehen
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: "until" vs "before" or "to"
>Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:46:11 -0400
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: sagehen
>Subject: Re: "until" vs "before" or "to"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >Did the announcer say "until" or "till"? "Till" is more common, and the
> >standard term in the Midland (and South, I believe). It goes way back,
> >noted in early travel journals as of Scotch-Irish origin. Dictionaries
> >cite it as a separate lexical item, if I'm not mistaken, more related to
> >"to" than to "until." (I don't have my sources here at home, but I've
> >cited this in my Encyclopedia of Appalachia entry of 2006, and Michael
> >Montgomery has discussed it long before that.) As a common daily usage,
>it
> >goes deep: I always tell my students that I, a Northerner born and bred,
> >will always say "quarter to," but my Indiana/Ohio son will forever say
> >"quarter till." The third option is usually "quarter of"; I've never
>heard
> >"quarter before" (or 15 minutes before). This seems to me simply
> >dialectal, not semantic. I forget where you live, Sage Hen?
> >
> >Beverly Flanigan
> >Ohio University
> >
> >At 08:02 PM 7/16/2007, you wrote:
> >>---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>-----------------------
> >>Sender: American Dialect Society
> >>Poster: sagehen
> >>Subject: "until" vs "before" or "to"
> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>-
> >>
> >>(a) It is now 25 minutes until 6.
> >>(b) It is now 25 minutes before 6.
> >>(c) It is now 25 minutes to 6.
> >> ~~~~~~~~~~~
> >>What's the difference?
> >>
> >> (a) feels wrong to me, unless sthg important is going to happen at 6.
> >>
> >> (b) & (c) as simple announcements of the time seem right.
> >>
> >>Is this just me, or do others have the same sense? I would probably
>never
> >>have thought of this if one of our local radio announcers didn't use
>the
> >>"until" form regularly, catching my attention. Most of them say
>"before."
> >>AM
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>This particular announcer definitely says "until." The station is in
>Canton NY, but its personnel come from all over the country.
>I myself would be more likely to say "25 of 6" or "quarter of" than "
>till" or "to" or "before." I grew up in Lincoln NE.
>AM
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>W stands for >:< War ____Waste___Wiretaps____Witchhunts >:<
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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