reputably = "reputedly"

[Wilson Gray]

It strikes me as being a mispronunciation in BE. "Presumably" is not
in common use and probably is usually pronunced "prolly." For me,
anyway, "supposably" is easier to say than "supposedly," so I use
"supposably" when speaking to other MOT's.

Around the time that I learned MOT (member of the tribe), I also heard
(or read in Mario Pei?) that it was originally a bit of Jewish slang
meaning, "member of the tribe (of Judah}," misunderstood or
re-analyzed by blacks as meaning "(descended from some unknown) member
of a tribe (in Africa)." Any truth to that, does anyone know or care?

-Wilson

On 8/7/07, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at umr.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: reputably = "reputedly"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ah, another lexical blend ("supposedly" + "presumably").
> =20
> Gerald Cohen
>
> ________________________________
>
> From Jonathan Lighter, Tue 8/7/2007 12:23 PM, Subject: reputably =3D =
> "reputedly"
>
>
>
> Cf. "supposably":
>
>  <snip>
>
>
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>


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