Ragged but Right, pt. 6 ("bufay", i. e., "ofay") (addendum)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

On 2/9/2012 6:50 PM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
> ....
> --
>
> Here is an alternative hypothesis.
>
> ....
>
> Why "bufay"? From "Opera Bouffé", I guess (taken to mean "Opera
> Company") [This mispronunciation seems to me virtually certain to occur.]
>
> (Limited support for plausibility argument only: "opera bouffé" = "opera
> company" in a humorous poem in the [San Jose CA] "Evening News" [31
> March 1894]:<<She wance ran away wid an operay bouffay>>  [calling for
> "bouffay" to rhyme with "away"].)
--

More plausibility evidence: _Rocky Mountain News_, Denver CO, 25 June
1889: p. 5: <<".... Light operas are the thing, and I should like to see
some opera boufay this summer." / "Opera boufay? What do you mean by
that?" / "Oh, it is a mixture of music and dancing." / "I know now; you
mean opera bouffe.">>

-- Doug Wilson

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