British "geezer" = American "gangster"?

[Wilson Gray]

Thank you, Jonathon. BTW, did anyone else note the parallel between
Billeri_cay_ and, e.g. the "Ameri_cay_" supposedly used by Abraham
Lincoln, among others, which was discussed here, recently?

Someone once wrote to the Boston Globe's answer man asking how
Braintree, Massachusetts, got its name. The unhelpful answer was that
it was named after Braintree in England. Interestiingly enough,
though, the name of the Massachusetts Braintree appears on old maps
with the spelling, "Brantry." Now, if one were to go to the American
South and ask random people, whether black or white, to pronounce this
name, they would most likely say something like "Brain trih." It makes
one wonder whether the Southern ae-to-ei rule or something similar
once applied in the North.

-Wilson

On 1/23/07, Jonathon Green <slang at abecedary.net> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathon Green <slang at ABECEDARY.NET>
> Subject:      Re: British "geezer" = American "gangster"?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Wilson Gray wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: British "geezer" = American "gangster"?
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Jonathon, is there any connection between Billericay in England and
> > Billerica [bIl 'rIk@] in Massachusetts, USA?
> >
> > -Wilson
> >
> >
> I've wondered that too. Billericay is a town in Essex, to the east of
> London. Whether it was the original home of a group of Mass. settlers
> who took it with them,  I don't know. Nor, honestly, do I even know if
> Billericay existed when settlers were leaving England. None of which
> helps. My apologies. I am now tempted to check.  Which I did, via
> google, one of which refs. tells me that Billerica was the spelling of
> the Essex town in 1655 when Billerica, Mass. was incorporated. So there
> we are. They are also twinned, have mutual vists, etc. For more info you
> can check http://members.tripod.com/~WynGrant/Billericay.html.
>
> JG
>
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