the Shandy-Lack theory revisited

[Landau, James]

Per the Shandy-Lack theory, Allan Metcalf should be the greeter at the State Fair, Ron Butters should run a dairy farm, Mark Mandel should own an almond orchard, and I should be in the business of repairing automobile roofs.

But no, John Tyler did not fix floors, Zachary Taylor did not make men's suits, Dwight Eisenhower was not a blacksmith, and Jimmy Carter was not a teamster. 

Seriously, Shandy-Lack is an exceptional case of reversing cause and effect.  In most European cultures surnames are either patronymics like "Thompson", place names like "Landau" (a town in the Palatinate of Germany), or occupational names such as "Boyer", "Fletcher", and "Arrowsmith".  Hence, in the case of occupational names, the occupation came first and the name followed it, not vice versa.

George, I am surprised that you would be naïve as to seriously consider Shandy-Lack.  After all, you are the son of a man named "Thomp" (presumably a variation on "Tom") and therefore, via nature or nurture, you should have acquired his standing as a doubting Thomas.

OT:  Quote of the week "the enormity of modern databases"  - Sam Clements

OT:  From Barry Popik  ""Boy's Town" or "Boys Town" is a place in Mexico near the Texas border where "boys" go to find "girls." These places of prostitution are also called "Zona de Tolerancia" (Zone of Tolerance) and "Zona Roja" (Red Zone) and "Zona Rosa" (Rose Zone or Pink Zone)."

Question:  is there any connection between Mexican "Zona Roja", "Zona Rosa" and US "Red light district"?  Or just coincidence?

James A. Landau
test engineer
Northrop-Grumman Information Technology
8025 Black Horse Pike, Suite 300
West Atlantic City NJ 08232 USA 
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: George Thompson [mailto:george.thompson at NYU.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: the Shandy-Lack theory revisited

I'm glad to see that the Shandy-Lack theory has been so readily accepted.  I was afraid I was going to be asked to put together a list of all thelexicographers and philologists who were named Preposition, Methatesis, and the like.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
Date: Monday, August 27, 2007 12:18 pm
Subject: Re: the Shandy-Lack theory revisited
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU


> Who needs this more recent evidence? In Louisville KY years ago there 
> was a proctologist named Assman. I'm a believer.
>
> dInIs
>
>
>
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
> >Subject:      the Shandy-Lack theory revisited
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >----------
> >
> >To refresh your memories: some time ago I called your attention to 
> >the Shandy-Lack hypothesis of Onomastic Determinism, first proposed 
> >by ca. 1770 Walter Shandy in the novel Tristram Shandy, and 
> >elaborated ca. 1950 by the British ornithologist David Lack.  Shandy 
> >held that one's name determined the future tenor of one's life, and 
> >Lack, by citing a number of ornithologists whose names were the names 
> >of birds or parts of birds, showed that it specifically determined 
> >one's career choice.
> >A mounting accumulation of additional evidence -- for instance a 
> >story in the NYTimes a few years ago that cited a fisheries expert 
> >named Herring -- justifies referring to this now as a theory.
> >
> >In any event, the August 24/31 2007 issue of the Times Literary 
> >Suppl. reviews a book on the bad effect of 500 years of destruction 
> >of habitat and bounties put upon supposed pest species has had on 
> >English wildlife.  The book is called "Silent Fields", and is by a 
> >naturalist named Roger Lovegrove.
> >Need more proof be called for?
> >
> >(Published by Oxford U Pr., and sounds fairly interesting.)
> >
> >GAT
> >
> >George A. Thompson
> >Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", 
> >Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor
> Department of English
> Morrill Hall 15-C
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48864 USA
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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