elastics, tennies, and 'meant to have'

[Paul Johnston]

Lynne:
The sneakers/tennis shoes divide by the late '80s had moved eastward
(according to my SUMY/Binghamton students at the time) to about where the
soda/pop line appeared to be, about a line from halfway between Syracuse and
Rochester to between Binghamton and Elmira.  "Tennies" was an innovation,
and was only found in the West of the State. And of course, Greater NYC kids
(85% of my class) would sooner die than use anything perceived as "surfer",
except ironically.

Paul Johnston


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lynne Murphy" <m.l.murphy at SUSSEX.AC.UK>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 12:45 PM
Subject: elastics, tennies, and 'meant to have'


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Lynne Murphy <m.l.murphy at SUSSEX.AC.UK>
> Subject:      elastics, tennies, and 'meant to have'
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
>
> Not liking being on the Digest version of the list, but can't handle the
> individual message volume these days.  Makes me shy about replying, as I
> don't know whether I'm repeating things that have already been said.  But
a
> catch-up session:
>
> elastics:  I/my  people differentiate between elastics and rubber bands.
> The things that are coated in something (some kind of polyester woven
> thing, usually) that are used for putting hair into ponytails, those are
> elastics.  Rubber bands don't have a covering.  This distinction was made
> very clearly when I was a long-haired youngster in the 70s in western NY
> state.
>
> tennis shoes:  never used this growing up, and came to perceive it as a
> very west-coast thing.  ('Tennies' is unknown in the UK, as I've
discovered
> by playing it often in Scrabble.)
>
> 16 were meant to have died (etc.):  When I first read the sentence that
was
> originally posted, I thought it was very odd, but reading subsequent
> sentences has made me realize that I do hear this (though I'm not sure
> whether or not I use it).
>
> Here's another example, from
<http://www.peterjames.com/books_thetruth.htm>
> (in a blurb about the plot of a thriller):
>
> "Why is Emil Sarotzini so secretive? How does he know so much about them?
> Could he be the man who was meant to have died in 1947 - the man who was
> the inspiration for Aleister Crowley? What is the truth behind his offer?"
>
> As far as I can tell,  'meant to have' doesn't mean that someone intended
> that he die but that didn't happen, but rather that he was believed to
have
> died, but that belief may be wrong.
>
> Lynne
>
> Dr M Lynne Murphy
> Senior Lecturer and Head of Department
> Linguistics and English Language
> Arts B133
> University of Sussex
> Brighton BN1 9QN
>
> phone: +44-(0)1273-678844
> http://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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