Hallucinating distinctions (was New Jersey Dialects)

[Wilson Gray]

On Oct 20, 2004, at 3:36 PM, Patti J. Kurtz wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Patti J. Kurtz" <kurtpatt4 at NETSCAPE.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Hallucinating distinctions (was New Jersey Dialects)
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> My students in Ohio did a field project and found "davenport," at least
> in their sample (which admittedly was small), to be very age

Aaarrrggghhh!!!

>  graded (sorry,
> Wilson!)  That is, mainly people over about 50

Aaarrrggghhh!!!

>  used it at all.  I
> suspect the same is true here, though I don't think my students have
> done that project here yet.
>
> And I also believe it was a brand name first.
>
> FWIW my grandmother used it all the time-- she was in her 60's at the
> time, in the 1960's in western PA
>
> But for me, it's a couch (with the appropriate Pittsburgh twang of
> course : )
>
> Patti Kurtz
>

Despite my screams of anguish, thank you for your post. I'm glad to
know that "davenport" really was widespread at one time and that my
memory of it wasn't a case of the PIST phenomenon.

-Wilson

> wilson.gray at RCN.COM wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Hallucinating distinctions (was New Jersey Dialects)
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>> ---------
>>
>>
>> dInIs, I'm way disappointed in you, the way you're letting these
>> Northerners define the field of discussion. Uh-oh. I may be pulling a
>> PITS, not realizing that some item that I (formerly) used routinely
>> is,
>> in fact, a localism. In any case, I'm referring to the use of
>> "davenport" in preference to either "couch" or "sofa." "Davenport" was
>> the only term used in East Texas in my childhood, though locals
>> understood both "sofa" and "couch." If I remember rightly,
>> "davenport,"
>> like "frigidaire," was originally a brand name. In this case, it was
>> the brand name of a sofa or couch that could be pulled out into a bed.
>> Currently, my conscious mind prefers "couch." but my fingers appear to
>> like "sofa" better.
>>
>> -Wilson Gray
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
>
> Dr. Patti J. Kurtz
>
> Assistant Professor, English
>
> Director of the Writing Center
>
> Minot State University
>
> Minot, ND 58707
>
>
>
> Foster: What about our evidence? They've got to take notice of that.
>
>
>
> Straker: Evidence. What's it going to look like when Henderson claims
> that we manufactured it, just to get a space clearance program?
>
>
>
> Foster: But we are RIGHT!
>
>
>
> Straker: Sometimes, Colonel, that's not quite enough.
>