A couple of Saint Louis oddities

[Wilson Gray]

Intrafamilial dialect splits can be weird. Just yesterday, I heard my
brother use "ant" for "aunt," instead of "ahnt." He says "millyun"
[milj at n], whereas I say "milyun" [miLj at n].

-Wilson

On 11/28/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: A couple of Saint Louis oddities
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My grandfather, a lifelong New Yorker, used to say "Cincinnata" and "St. Looey." My grandmother, ditto, said "Cincinnati" and "St. Lewis."
>
>   Both learned their pronunciations, presumably, in the 1890s.
>
>   JL
>
> Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: A couple of Saint Louis oddities
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Good point, Paul. "Sunda" is a well-known localism. Local columnists
> would write about it on a slow day. On the other hand, "tossel" was
> something that I heard, but I never used it myself, and never saw it
> mentioned in the local papers. That is, "tossel" could very well have
> been spreading *to* Saint Louis. I have to remind myself that, WRT the
> Saint Louis dialect, I have to remember that I'm talking about what
> was true fifty years ago. But, even then, I knew several people who
> had moved from, e.g. Cincinnata ;-), to Saint Louis.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 11/20/06, Paul A Johnston, Jr.
> wrote:
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> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: "Paul A Johnston, Jr."
>
> > Subject: Re: A couple of Saint Louis oddities
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Wilson,
> > I'm not sure about the distribution of "sunda" but "tossel" might be widespread. I've heard it from my wife and brother-in-law (Cleveland, OH) and from my MI students. I wonder for how many people "tossel" means specifically corn tassel, too.
> >
> > Paul Johnston
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Wilson Gray
> > Date: Sunday, November 19, 2006 3:05 am
> > Subject: A couple of Saint Louis oddities
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------
> > > ------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > > Poster: Wilson Gray
> > > Subject: A couple of Saint Louis oddities
> > > -------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > ------------
> > >
> > > The pronunciation of "sundae" as though it were spelled "sunda" and
> > > the pronunciation of "tassel" as though it were spelled "tossel."
> > >
> > > -Wilson
> > > --
> > > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange
> > > complaint to
> > > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > > -----
> > > -Sam Clemens
> > >
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>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam Clemens
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam Clemens

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org