knowumsayin

[Victoria Neufeldt]

It's quite funny that the silent 'k' is retained.  (And I do certainly
remember Mairzy Doats!)

Victoria

Victoria Neufeldt
1533 Early Drive
Saskatoon, Sask.
S7H 3K1
Canada




James Landau writes (Wednesday, June 06, 2001 5:58 PM):

> In a message dated 06/06/2001 4:10:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> melonayse at hotmail.com  asks (via AAllan at AOL.COM):
>
> > >>I was wondering if you could help me find some information on
> the origin
> >  and use of the word "knowumsayin'." Do you know where I might begin?
> >
> >  Sincerely,
> >
> >  Ken Gordon
> >  melonayse at hotmail.com<<
>
> In spoken English, many common words and expressions get chopped
> down until
> there are just enough phonemes to keep them recognizable.  Note
> that this is
> happening to COMMON expressions that can be easily recognized
> from context.
>
> Examples:
>
> know what I'm saying --> knowumsayin'  (the conversion of the
> final /ng/ to
> /n/ is a different process)
> give me ---> gimme
> don't you want to --> doncha wanna
> want-to-be --> wannabe (not to be confused with the Lenape, whom the white
> man persists in calling the "Delaware")
> Louisville (KY) --> Louavul (two and a half syllables)
> New Albany (IN) (across the river from Louavul) is allegedly
> referred to as
> "Nawbny" although that pronunciation, if it indeed exists, has not crossed
> the Ohio into Kentucky
>
> The classic example, which may even be datable, is of course the song
> "Mairzy Doats"
[SNIP]