Y'all Say WHUTTTT?

[Dennis R. Preston]

You obviously have not heard the old joke about why the Wise Men were
dressed in Firemen's clothes - the came from afar.

dInIs (who finds the really heavy duty accents here in Michigan)

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Doug Harris <cats22 at FRONTIERNET.NET>
>Subject:      Y'all Say WHUTTTT?
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>'Got a phone call yesterday on our business line, clearly
>from a call center, based on the amount of chatter in the
>background. I couldn't hear who the caller said she was
>representing, and I was totally befuddled by her question:
>"Who's yer far chiff?"
>I asked several times for her to repeat, then gave up in
>frustration, said I didn't know, and hung up.
>As I did so, I recalled that for some odd reason, that
>line has been known to be called by people seeking our
>tiny village's fire department.
>The light went on: She was enquiring as to our _fire chief_.
>---
>She's got _some_ heavy-duty accent!
>  (the other) doug
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-353-4736
preston at msu.edu

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org