ADS-L Digest - 18 Jul 2009 to 19 Jul 2009 (#2009-201)

[Wilson Gray]

My buddy is about 67. However, I've heard "tonic" around, here and
there, rather often. It's just that I know personally few genuine
Bostonians who haven't, like me, a native of Texas, modified their
native dialect toward the standard. So, my Boston friends wouldn't say
"tonic" to me, any more than I would say "soda water" - where I'm
from, *any* kind of carbonated beverage, even Co'-Cola, and not just
soda water, is called "soda water" - to them. Only my friend from
Haverhill - named Peter Jennings, by coincidence - uses "tonic."

-Wilson


On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 12:37 AM, Your Name<ROSESKES at aol.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Your Name <ROSESKES at AOL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: ADS-L Digest - 18 Jul 2009 to 19 Jul 2009 (#2009-201)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In a message dated 7/20/2009 12:00:46 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> LISTSERV at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU writes:
>
> my  friend who uses "tonic" for soda / pop / soda pop / soda
> water, etc., is  from Haverhill [hEIvr at l] and not from the  city.
>
> -Wilson
>
>
> FWIW, my grandmother, a city-of-Boston native, always called it tonic as
> well.    How old is your friend?  Maybe the difference is  generational
> rather than geographical.
>
> Rosemarie
>
> The secret  of managing life is to keep the folks who can't stand you, away
> from  the folks who are undecided!
>
>
>
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> for any occasion.
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Mark Twain

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