zink/sink

[sagehen]

on 3/31/08 5:07 PM, Joseph Salmons at jsalmons at WISC.EDU wrote:

> I've only heard it used 'in the wild' once probably, but there it was
> for a kitchen sink. The big reports we've heard of it come mostly at
> public events on Wisconsin English where we've gotten it several times
> as a comment/question  in eastern Wisconsin. Like I said, people seem
> to associate it with Dutch immigrant communities.
>
> Joe
>
>
> On Mar 31, 2008, at 3:42 PM, Scot LaFaive wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Scot LaFaive <slafaive at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: William Safire on the kitchen sink
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --
>>
>>> In Wisconsin, is every sink called a "zinc" (or "zink") or just the
>>> kitchen "zinc"?
>>
>> Having lived in Wisconsin for all 33 years of my life, I don't recall
>> ever hearing voicing at the beginning of "sink," unless someone was
>> attempting a bad German impression.
>>
>> Speaking of "That 70's Show," I was impressed the other night when
>> Hyde kept asking Fez for a "pop," not a "soda." Also, Hyde does a
>> great Northern Wisconsin/Minnesota accent when he's making fun of Bob.
>>
>> Scot
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 2:51 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> 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: William Safire on the kitchen sink
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ---
>>>
>>> In Wisconsin, is every sink called a "zinc" (or "zink") or just the
>>> kitchen "zinc"? If it's the former, I'd tend to believe the "Dutch
>>> ancestry" explanation. Otherwise, I have no clue, since the closest
>>> that I've been to Wisconsin is "That '70's Show" ("Hello,
>>> Wisconsin!"). My father went to Madison, but that experience had no
>>> particular impact on his  "Alabama brogue," as he termed his native
>>> dialect.
>>>
>>> My grandmother was the last of the dialect Mohicans, since the "zinc"
>>> pronunciation died with her. All living members of my family say
>>> "(kitchen) sink," including my 97-y.o mother, a daughter of said
>>> grandmother.
>>>
>>> -Wilson
>>>
>>> On Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 2:56 PM, Joseph Salmons <jsalmons at wisc.edu>
>>> wrote:
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>> -----------------------
>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster:       Joseph Salmons <jsalmons at WISC.EDU>
>>>> Subject:      Re: William Safire on the kitchen sink
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> ----
>>>>
>>>> Interesting. I don't recall that pronunciation from the south or
>>>> Texas, but the z-ful pronunciation of 'sink' is well known in
>>>> Wisconsin, where it's popularly associated with people of Dutch
>>>> ancestry. (I have no evidence on whether that's true or to what
>>>> extent
>>>> it might be.)
>>>>
>>>> Joe
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mar 30, 2008, at 1:47 PM, 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:      William Safire on the kitchen sink
>>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> -----
>>>>>
>>>>> In his article on the kitchen sink in today's NYT Mag, Safire notes
>>>>> that the kitchen sink was once an object made of a "sheet of _zinc_
>>>>> over wood ..."
>>>>>
>>>>> Perhaps this is the reason that my late, East-Texas-born
>>>>> grandmother
>>>>> always referred to our kitchen sink, which differed in no way
>>>>> from the
>>>>> usual enameled kitchen sink standard in houses built back in the
>>>>> day,
>>>>> as "the _zinc_," though she referred to the bathroom sink only as
>>>>> "the
>>>>> _sink_."

>>>>> -Wilson
~~~~~~~~~~~
 I hadn't thought of it for many years, but when this thread began I
realized that "zink" (or zinc) for the kitchen sink (or standing washtubs)
was famliar to me.  Probably from my Nebraska childhood, though I can't
positively associate it wih any particular person.  I think of it as
German-influenced.  NE had many German immigrants from the
mid IXX Cent on.
AM

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