pronuncation of BURY

[Millie Webb]

Sorry, I should have maybe put a "smiley face" after the hickish comment.
And no, of course I don't think my English is more "proper" than yours.  All
I know is that in The Cities, where and when I grew up, and now, whenever I
go back (which is often), I have never noticed a native of the Cities saying
"burry" for "bury".  I tend to notice stuff like that!  ;-)   I was not
saying people who say it that way ARE "hickish", but that the listener
attitudinal switch flips to that (+ rural, +older generation).  It actually
makes me smile to recognize it when it happens, in spite of years of meeting
people with all sorts of accents from all over, given that I "know better"
than to make such assumptions.  It is still hard to turn off.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Beverly Flanigan" <flanigan at OHIOU.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2002 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: pronuncation of BURY


> Now, now, I take umbrage at the "hickish and old-fashioned" comment--esp.
> since I'm a Norw-American from southern Minnesota!  (And I hope you
> recognized my irony when I mentioned "proper" English--or do you think
your

And, I am also a (proud, thank you) Norwegian-American whose ancestors moved
to Southern Minnesota first (from Norway), before moving up the Cities fifty
to seventy years ago.  I just was wondering out loud if that Norwegian
language influence being stronger in the more rural areas might have
influenced that conflation hanging around longer, that's all.  Please don't
report me to Sons of Norway.  I didn't mean it that way!  :-)