Lego vs. Legos: Americanism? Regionalism?

[Alice Faber]

Beverly Flanigan wrote:
> At 10:28 AM 7/31/2007, you wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Lego vs. Legos: Americanism? Regionalism?
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Jul 30, 2007, at 6:46 PM, Larry Horn wrote:
>>
>>> At 9:23 PM -0400 7/30/07, Alice Faber wrote:
>>>> I was Lego-age in the 50's, and I don't recall having Legos alongside
>>>> the Lincoln logs that I do remember fondly. But my cousins, who are
>>>> about 5 years younger than I am, did have Legos. So I would guess
>>>> that
>>>> they became widespread in the early 60s. And, indeed, Google turns up
>>>> the following page
>>>> <http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/lego.htm>, which
>>>> says that
>>>> Legos were introduced to the US in 1962, though they were around
>>>> earlier
>>>> in Denmark.
>>>>
>>> Hmmm.  That's consistent with my (non-)memory of Legos in the 1950's,
>>> but not with Arnold's distinct memory of having played with them
>>> "well over 50 years ago".  Maybe Arnold's set was smuggled in from
>>> Europe, hidden between those copies of Lady Chatterley and Ulysses?
>> maybe my memory is just wrong.  i might have projected the Legos back
>>from my daughter's childhood to my own.  i don't recall any time when
>> Legos were "new", so i might have re-worked my memory in such a way
>> that they were always there.  that sort of thing happens a lot.  (as
>> you all know, i am repeatedly distrustful of reports about linguistic
>> usages from the past, when there's no documentation.  everybody's
>> memories -- my own included -- about such things are notoriously
>> undependable, and people can be absolutely certain of memories that
>> are in fact significantly flawed.)
>>
>> arnold the unmemorious
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> But we DO remember Erector sets and Lincoln Logs, right, Arnold?!  Not to
> mention plain old wooden blocks.
>

And tinkertoys...

--
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Alice Faber                                    faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                           tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                        fax (203) 865-8963

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