Sale and Sell

[Wilson Gray]

A college classmate of mine from Alabama told me a story of listening
to a "Health & Hygiene" lecture being given by her high school's
football coach. His topic, as far she could tell, was "The division of
sails," which made no sense. So, she raised her hand and asked what
sails he was talking about. He replied, "Regular sails. You know, like
the sails in your blood."

-Wilson Gray



On 5/20/05, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Sale and Sell
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I mix them up in writing, too, but they're not homophones for me in Seattle.
> "Sale" is homophonous with "sail", though.
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Baking the World a Better Place
> www.hiroki.us
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Jonathan Lighter
>
> They sure are homophones in East TN.  Freshman frequently mix 'em up in
> writing, too.
>
> Grant Barrett <gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG> wrote:
>
> Nice little note on vowels:
>
> "Who knew 'sale' and 'sell' were homophones? Not me, not until I moved to
> Utah."
>


--
-Wilson Gray