[Ads-l] "Hella" in the Bay Area Reporter, 1982-85 (was Re: Hella research inquiry)

[Bill Mullins]

I noted "[sic]" because of the spelling "Pom Pons", not because of the hyphen or lack thereof.

If you say that "Pom Pons" is an accepted spelling for the things cheerleaders shake, I'll defer.  But I've never seen it as such -- it's always been "pom-poms" in my experience -- and wanted to note that "Pom Pons" was spelled as quoted, and not a typo on my part.

All the quotes in the OED for the cheerleader devices have "pom poms" with an em, not with an en.

(and FWIW, the OED does not include "pom pom" for a dual barrelled gun.)



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>> Pom Pons [sic]
>
> I.e. it needs a hyphen: pom-pons.
>
> The two words, "pom-pom" and "pompon" were often confused in speech and, once that the re-spelling of
> _pompon_ as "pom-pon," under the influence of _pom-pom_, became accepted, it wasn't long - since
> the '50's, at least - before the spelling, "pom-pom," began to replace the spelling, "pom-pon"/"pompon."




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