Stomp (was Rejected posting to ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU)

[Seán Fitzpatrick]

Fwiw, I grew up near Washington, D.C. recognizing “stomp” as a separate
word—though having hillbilly potential:  he stomped him gooood—having the
same meaning as “stamp” when it concerns the pedal extremities.  While I
would have told a fellow Boy Scout to stamp out the fire, I (and for that
matter my mother) might have described a sister stomping off in a huff.  I
would have thought it odd or dialectical to know only one of the two words
for stepping hard on something. 

 

Seán Fitzpatrick
Violence may not solve things, but it can sure as hell settle them.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Preston [mailto:preston at MSU.EDU] 
Sent: Thursday, 19 April, 2007 11:33
Subject: Fwd: Rejected posting to ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

 

> 

>Wilson,

> 

>Certainly wasn't only a Black thang in the 40's. When I was a kid the

>verb was always 'stomp' and the stuff for postage was a 'stamp.' I

>couldn't say (for example) "He stamped out a fire" until I went away

>from the homeland. (Still sounds funny as hell to me.)

 

 

> 

>And certain things I can't say even now, though I know the fancy

>(Northern?) verb. "He stamped his ass." Impossible. Sounds like he

>got it ready for mailing or maybe rubber-stamped it.

> 

>dInIs

> 

> 

> 

>>---------------------- Information from the mail header

>>-----------------------

>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>

>>Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>

>>Subject:      Re: change from the bottom up was re: accusative cursing

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>> 

>>Not to mention certain pronunciations and turns of phrase that are now

>>felt as standard. Several years ago, I came across a reprint of a

>>perhaps century-old book with a title something like, A Lexicon of the

>>Speech of the Southern-Alabama Negro. Though I've tried for the past

>>couple of years to track down this publication, I've not been

>>successful. I've been hoping to see it mentioned by someone here, but,

>>so far, I''ve been SOL. IAC, the number of now-ordinary words and

>>phrases that the compiler specifies as peculiar to the speech of black

>>Southern-Alabamians is quite surprising. Unfortunately, I can recall

>>only one trivial example: the pronunciation of the verb, "stamp," as

>>though it was spelled "stomp," a pronunciation that some authors, e.g.

>>Roger Abrahams, WRT the speech of black Philadelphians, still

>>considered to be only a black thang as recently as the '60's.

>> 

>>-Wilson

>> 

>>On 4/17/07, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>>>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header

>>>-----------------------

>>>   Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>

>>>   Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>

>>>   Subject:      Re: change from the bottom up was re: accusative cursing

>>> 

>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>> 

>>>   I agree, though Black English is not the only source.  However, it

>>>certainly has contributed a great number of (more or less)

>>>identifiable slang expressions to general American English since

>>>the Swing Era and especially since the 1960s.

>>> 

>>>     Slang by (my) definition originates in contexts regarded as

>>>indecorous by speakers of prestige dialects.

>>> 

>>>     JL

>>> 

>>>   Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM> wrote:

>>>     ---------------------- Information from the mail header

>>>-----------------------

>>>   Sender: American Dialect Society

>>>   Poster: Amy West

>>>   Subject: change from the bottom up was re: accusative cursing

>>> 

>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>> 

>>>   Hmmm...I like CPE; however I wonder if my students will be more

>>>   confused if I use that while our Longman's Writer's Companion uses

>>>   SWE.

>>> 

>>>   I'm much more interested by the "phonetic changes work up" statement.

>>>   I've run across a similar analysis relating to slang terms entering

>>>   the language in a chapter in _Slam Dunks & No-Brainers_ where the

>>>   author argues that many slang terms work their way "up" from Black

>>>   Vernacular English into the dominant dialect. Being a newbie, I

>>>   wasn't sure if this was a consensus view in the field or not.

>>> 

>>>   ---Amy West

>>> 

>>>   >I use, and prefer, the term Conventional Plublic English, rather than

>>>   >Standard English, because, of course, there are no language

>>>standards, just

>>>   >lots of opinions, and opinions influence conventions, but not
standards.

>>>   >Labov's, Wolfram's and Trudgill's research indicates that

>>>phonetic changes

>>>   >work up rather than down suggests that conventions, not standards,
are

>>>   >altered from below. Have you looked at your son's pants lately?

>>>   >

>>>   >JCS

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