Hypercorrections win out?

[Wilson Gray]

Hypercorrected since at least the late 1950's, you say? Whew! That's a
load off my mind! I'm not the language loser who first decided that
the correct was incorrect. :-) And that also means that the battle
that my friend was fighting when he corrected me in 1961 had already
been lost.

-Wilson

On 8/29/07, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:
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> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Hypercorrections win out?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >... so also have I
> >seen only "scarf" in print, in the relevant meaning, in contemporary
> >writing.
>
> RHUD says this "scarf" (from the late 1950's) is derived from "scoff"
> in the expected manner ("scoff" perceived as non-rhotic "scarf").
> RHUD says this "scoff" is from the late _1850's_, with earlier
> "scaff". SND shows Scots "scaff" (v.) in the same sense from 1823,
> "scaff" (n.) = "food" from 1768.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
>
>
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