Two other countries separated by a common language

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Thu Oct 4 16:07:47 UTC 2007


Yes, that's an exceedingly obvious possibility, now that it's been
pointed out. It's amazing how quickly the opaque can become
transparent, under the right circumstances. :-)

If the truth be told, I myself have been faked out by the Bostonic
pronunciation of "guard" as, to the inexperienced ear, "god." I once
overheard a couple of local girls attempting to flirt with a security
guard, who was brushing them off:

"What's your name?"

"You can call me 'God.'"

-Wilson

On 10/2/07, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at umr.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Two other countries separated by a common language
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
[I]t's possible that in her primary concern for finding the ladies =
> room she didn't pay much attention to the fellow's reaction.=20
> =20
> Gerald Cohen
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Wilson Gray
> Sent: Tue 10/2/2007 3:22 PM
> Subject: Re: Two other countries separated by a common language
>
>
>
> Did she say what the local's response to this was? He would have
> understood it as:
>
> "I know the guards can tell me. I was looking for someone closer to =
> earth."
>
> He must have been totally discombobulated.
> <snip>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
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

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