molasses sg/pl - dialectal variation?

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Sat Apr 4 23:46:34 UTC 2009


In DARE: v. 3, p. 633: under "molasses", sec. B:

<<Also rarely _molassisis_: used as pl count noun. *chiefly S Midl* Cf
*cabbage A2, cheese A* [followed by exx. 1843-1989]>>

Apparently in Appalachia, Ozarks, etc. "cabbage" is often construed as
plural ... also "tomato", and "cheese" (hence the singular "chee").

-- Doug Wilson

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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list