CP Time

[Dennis R. Preston]

"Better had" go way beyond St.Louis, bro. And you're right; I shoulda
listened to my momma more. But, if she hadn't collaborated with my
daddy givin me these 5'10" genes, I coulda been a NBA star.

dInIs (who once guarded the Big O, to his [i.e.,mine] everlasting
basketball shame)




>On Nov 4, 2004, at 3:35 PM, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: CP Time
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>Wilson, I have heard this for a very long time and from folk who are
>>most definitely not boojies (and who definitely do not have /s/ after
>>"people"). But my momma told me a long time ago that I was runnin
>>with the wrong crowd.
>>
>>dInIs
>>
>>PS: Truth is, I have rarely heard the "full form"; only when some
>>lame asked what it meant.
>
>If I wrote anything that implied that I thought that "CP time" was a
>fresh term, I apologize. It's probably two days older than water. As
>far as my experience of the living use of the term is concerned, "CP
>time" is the pretty much the only way that I've ever heard the term
>used. However, I've never heard "colored people time," only "colored
>people's time." However, I do not doubt that there are speakers who say
>the former.
>
>  As for your moms, you better had listen. Yo momma she tellin you
>straight. (The "better had" is a St. Louis BE-ism that merely adds
>emphasis and has no effect on the tense of the main verb.)
>
>-Wilson
>
>>
>>
>>
>>>On Nov 4, 2004, at 12:24 PM, Mullins, Bill wrote:
>>>
>>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>-----------------------
>>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>Poster:       "Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
>>>>Subject:      CP Time
>>>>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>--
>>>>--------
>>>>
>>>>  From the comic strip Boondocks:
>>>>http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/2004/11/02/
>>>>
>>>>Huey:  I dreamt I talked to God last night . . .
>>>>Huey:  He said, Don't worry about the election 'cause everything
>>>>would
>>>>work
>>>>itself out soon.
>>>>Huey:  Of course, to God, "Soon" could be, like, 50 million years.
>>>>Caesar:  Yeah, He's been on C.P. time lately.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I've seen/heard "C.P. Time" as "Colored People Time", but never in
>>>>such a
>>>>mainstream form.
>>>>
>>>
>>>Aaron probably recked without the ADS, figuring that "the other group"
>>>would be too lame and unhip to have any idea what the reference was.
>>>Or, perhaps, he just didn't care, since he uses a lot of in-group
>>>references in his work. If this kind of thing interests you(-all),
>>>you(-all) may want to watch Chappelle's Show on Comedy Central. He's
>>>the sketch-comedy version of Richard Pryor, so to speak. Or as it
>>>were.
>>>
>>>FWIW, I know this only as "colored people's time," with the possessive
>>>"s" pronounced, since I've heard it used only by  boojies as a down
>>>(sic) of the underclass types who, with their lack of couth, their rap
>>>music, and their blink-blink (sic) persist in interfering with the
>>>upward progress of the Talented Tenth. Bill - or, rather, William -
>>>Cosby, EdD, you know what I'm saying.
>>>
>>>-Wilson Gray
>>
>>
>>--
>>Dennis R. Preston
>>University Distinguished Professor
>>Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic,
>>         Asian and African Languages
>>Wells Hall A-740
>>Michigan State University
>>East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
>>Office: (517) 353-0740
>>Fax: (517) 432-2736


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
A-740 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-3099
Fax: (517) 432-2736
preston at msu.edu