F**king-A and on accident

[Millie Webb]

Thos are two of the idiolectal oddities I first noticed in a very close
college friend from Southern Michigan, when I first met him at our MN
college (I grew up in St Paul).  They both threw me to some extent, but the
second much more than the first.  I doubt the f**king-a one is specific to
the NE, though I suppose it is possible it could have started there over
fifty years ago?

Two more oddities in his speech and that of others that I first encountered
in college are the "positive anymore" ("We all do it that way anymore."),
and "all of a suddenly", instead of either "all of a sudden" or "suddenly".
I would have written off this latter one to misspeaking, but he used it with
extreme consistency, and still does almost fifteen years later. -- Millie
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Bergdahl" <bergdahl at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 12:35 PM
Subject: F**king-A and on accident


> 1.  At lunch today one of the group claimed that the expression
"f**king-A"
> was a play on Flying-A gas stations, a New England chain--someone
mentioned
> Tidewater Oil.  The two people we heard it from were 60+ New Englanders.
> Any insight from the group?
> 2.  My daughter in Seattle writes "people on this coast say 'on accident'
> instead of 'by accident' which sounds really weird to me. Have I mentioned
> that to you before? For example, 'I went to the wrong classroom on
> accident.'" I, personally, have never heard this--is it west coast or just
> NW?
> _________________________________________
> "We are all New Yorkers"
>        --Dominique Moisi
>