"Fo'ward"

[Charles Doyle]

Of course, strange and irregular things can happen in the phonological evolution of proper names, but I'm thinking of "Worchester," often pronounced and spelled "Wooster."  "Doster" is a common surname in north Georgia.  I assume the surname "Foster" comes from "forester" ("forester" sometimes appears disyllabically in 16th-century verse).  Perhaps these changes correlate with r-lessness in various stages or dialects of the language--I don't know.

Who was the wag who said that if Niagra Falls were in England, the name would be pronounced "Niffles"?

Speaking of the English: night-before-last on the CBS evening news, Charles and Diana's princelings were being interviewed--and their answers were captioned.  Katie hurried to explain that they do speak good English, but being YOUNG, they talk very FAST!

--Charlie

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