assorted comments

[Wilson Gray]

Good point, Margaret! Thank you for the reminder. [Warning: anecdote follows.]

Back in 1973, at the LSA Summer Linguistic Institute at Michigan, I
met a Quebecoise named "Elise Piquette." (BTW, Larry, didn't we meet
at this same LI?) After we became acquainted, she told me that her
grandmother had, by coincidence, actually met Wilson Pickett, one
time, when he was in Quebec City for a concert. They chatted, and
chuckled over the fact that they, who shared a surname but who came
from such different backgrounds, should have met.

"Shared a _surname_"? Eh? I didn't get it. Oh, Elise went on to
explain, her generation was the first to frenchify the family name as
"Piquette." Theretofore, the family had retained its original
Anglo-Saxon name of "Pickett." Okay, now I got it. Then, for no
particular reason, I asked her what her father's name was. She
replied, "Orville Pickett," pronouncing it in the ordinary,
North-American-English manner.

I was barely able to keep a straight face. All these years later, I'm
still asking myself: "'Orville Pickett'?! What kind of name is that
for a nice, French-Canadian boy?!"

-Wilson

On 4/6/07, Margaret Lee <mlee303 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Margaret Lee <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: assorted comments
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> But don't forget about "The Wicked Mr. Pickett,"  the late, great, Wilson Pickett.
>
>   Margaret
>
> Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>   When I was a kid in the 'Forties in Saint Louis, I had a couple of (I
> prefer the ancient form) classmates in my segregated elementary school
> named "Major." In those days, During The War, the other kids seemed
> not to find this strange. In my own opinion, even though I was just a
> hick from the sticks, at the time, this was a name *way* cooler than
> "Wilson," which should have been "William," at least. It wasn't until
> 1970 that I met, for the first and only time, another person forenamed
> "Wilson."
>
> During the 'Fifties, there was an R&B singer named "General Jones."
> Later, during the 'Sixties, there was the much-better-known Major
> Lance, whom others here may recall.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 4/5/07, Margaret Lee wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Margaret Lee
> > Subject: Re: assorted comments
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The first name of the principal of the school where I taught my first year after college, was Commodore (late 1960's).
> >
> > Margaret
> >
> > Doug Harris wrote:
> > Also... a parent of one of my wife's kindergarten kids in the Bronx a few
> > years ago gave her first born the first name 'Admiral'. Her second born was
> > named 'General'. I believe, but can't swear to it, that they were named
> > after specific officers. Admirable as was her intent, one has to imagine
> > that, in the general school population, both those kids have suffered no end
> > of ribbing.
> > (the other) doug
> > ========================
> >
> > Don't feel bad, Dr. Gray. I just sent my boss an e-mail saying "here is my
> > report, a week early"---and forgot to attach the report.
> >
> > - Jim Landau
> >
> > ---------------------------------
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> >
> 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'l Clemens

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