"boogobs" query

[James Smith]

--- P2052 at AOL.COM wrote:
... A synonym for this word
> which I heard--and
> used--often during my childhood was "bookoo."  After
> I took a French course,
> I assumed that the latter was a mispronunciation of
> the French word,
> beaucoup, which has the same meaning.
>
> Some contexts in which these words occur are as
> follows:
> " I heard that she has bookoo money."
> "I hear that she has googobs of money."
>
> Since I've heard these terms only from African
> Americans raised in the South,
> I'm wondering if these expressions might be peculiar
> to this particular
> community.
>                             PAT WILLIAMS

I hear beaucoup, with approximately the french
pronunciation except for an exaggerated stress on the
second syllable, used routinely by all sorts of
people, no particular ethnic or social group.

When I was in 8th grade, I asked my English teacher
(who was Canadian and promptly pointed out some of the
peculiarities of Utah inglush) why "been" was
pronounced as "bin" and why "again" was pronounced
like "agen" (please excuse the imprecise phonetics and
I hope you understand what I mean); she said that was
just the way it was.  Since the Fab Four and Prof.
Henry Higgins of "My Fair Lady", I've noticed that
"again" and "been" are more frequently pronounced as
they are in (at least parts) of England and as their
spelling indicates they are to be pronounced.  Maybe
the addition of "t" to "of'en" that is now so
commonplace is from the same influence.

Jim SMITH



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