Telephone pole

[Wilson Gray]

Though I've known better since at least my first trip to TJ in 1957, I
continue to say "Tia Juana" simply because I've never felt the need to
encumber my tongue with the closer-to-correct pronunciation. And yes,
I admit it: there once was a time when I truly believed that there was
a city in Mexico named "Aunt Jane" and I thought that "Tijuana" was
either an American misspelling or a Mexican respelling based on the
wearing away of the "a" in "tia."

-Wilson

On 5/17/07, Landau, James <James.Landau at ngc.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Landau, James" <James.Landau at NGC.COM>
> Subject:      Telephone pole
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At the next meeting of the investment club I belong to, there will be a
> vote on changes to the By-Laws.  Among the proposals are one about what
> to do when a member ("partner") becomes "incompacitated" and another one
> stating that in the event of an emergency, "a telephone pole will be
> conducted".
>
> Speaking of the word "partner", I found an especially ambiguous use
> recently, in a news report about a man arrested for drug dealing.  The
> report kept referring to the man's "partner".  Did that imply they were
> lovers?  Well, it was stated that they had once shared an apartment, but
> also it was important to the story that the two men jointly owned a
> restaurant, and hence were business partners.
>
> OT:  to the person who brought up the furtive schwa in "pelap(a)legic",
> can you explain why everybody in the US is convinced there is a city in
> Mexico named "Aunt Jane"?  Tijuana (correct spelling) is commonly
> pronounced Tiajuana (as in "Tiajuana Trolley"), which is Spanish for
> "Aunt Jane".
>
>      - Jim Landau
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens
------
The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones.

                                           Rumanian proverb

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