<kewl> (was Re: the oldest surviving slang)

[Arnold Zwicky]

i have now seen the spelling <kewl> used *both* for the
fronted-/u/ pronunciation (now spreading throughout north
america, as dInIs points out) *and* for the spread-lip-/u/
pronunciation (stereotypical surfer-dude, socal smile-when-
you-produce-that-vowel, variant).  the spelling <ew> seems
to convey 'something noticeable done with the lips', but
that thing could be either rounding or spreading.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)