Bloomin' Onion

[Dennis R. Preston]

>First, do away with /a/ before /r/. Confusing. "Awesome" and
>"blossom" have very differnet vowels for many if not most Americans.
>Here's an easy thing to do:


Listen to Dan Rather - he has the difference.
Now try Peter Jennings - like most Canadians (and Western US
residents) , he does not.



>I mus' be a conflater.  I have no idea what the
>difference is you are discussing here.  Even my
>dictionary provides no clue; the words "cot" and
>"cart" typify the "a" in "awesome", the expression
>"aw" for that in "blossom":  the "a"s in all three
>words sound the same to my ear.
>
>Can you give an example of someone on tv who makes the
>distinction, so I can understand, though probably not
>change, my conflating ways?
>
>
>
>--- "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU> wrote:
>>  >Awesome Blossom does not impress me at all - I keep
>>  the cot-caught
>>  >vowels quite distinct. For people who say (shudder)
>>  "Ahsome
>>  >Blahsome" (both with the vowel of "cot") I reckon
>>  it's cutesy (or
>>  >"poertic"). arnold, say you ain't such a conflater!
>>
>>  dInIs
>>
>>  PS: Of course, even as a nonconflater, one might
>>  appreciate the
>>  immense subtlety of the half-rhyme I reckon.
>>
>>
>>  >there was mention, a few days ago, of a dispute
>>  between
>>  >Outback and Chili's over the use of this name.
>>  Chili's has
>>  >gone for the name Awesome Blossom, which i prefer
>>  on poetic
>>  >grounds (though its failure to refer clearly to
>>  onions might
>>  >be viewed as a point against it).
>>  >
>>  >as it happens, my daughter had dinner at an Outback
>>  (in san
>>  >francisco) last night, with a visiting australian -
>>  who
>>  >*asked* to go there, because he thought the place
>>  was just
>>  >such a weird experience.  he did wonder what went
>>  with a
>>  >Bloomin' Onion - a Bloody Steak, perhaps?
>>  >
>>  >arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)
>>
>>  --
>>  Dennis R. Preston
>>  Professor of Linguistics
>>  Department of Linguistics and Languages
>>  740 Wells Hall A
>>  Michigan State University
>>  East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
>>  Office - (517) 353-0740
>>  Fax - (517) 432-2736
>
>
>=====
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>South SLC, UT                  |it is that we will be sued
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