Bouey knife (Bowie knife) (Jan. 25, 1836)

[Wilson Gray]

And, FWIW, I agree with you. The first people that I ever knew named
"Bowie," my first-grade classmates, the twins, Raymond and Rosemary
Bowie, pronounced their surname as [bu.i], as did, judging by the old
TV show and the evidence presented here, James Bowie, father of the
Bowie knife (described in a blues as "too long to be A knife, too
shawt to be A swode) and hero of the Alamo.

-Wilson

On 6/24/07, David Bowie <db.list at pmpkn.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       David Bowie <db.list at PMPKN.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Bouey knife (Bowie knife) (Jan. 25, 1836)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From:    Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>
> > "Buidhe" indicates that the vowel is [u]. But where does the English
> > spelling, "Bowie," which has plausibly led to the spelling
> > pronunciation with [o], come from?
>
> FWIW, *my* family pronounces "Bowie" as [bu.i], not [bo.i] (or the one
> that i'm getting more and more commonly from telemarketers, [bau.i]).
> I've had a few students wonder if there was a Great Vowel Shift o>u
> thing involved; i doubt it, but i haven't bothered to look into it
> enough to disprove it.
>
>
> --
> David Bowie                               University of Central Florida
>      Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
>      house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
>      chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.
>
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