ADS-L Digest - 16 Aug 2008 to 17 Aug 2008 (#2008-231)

[Your Name]

Re: "yay-uss," and "can't anybody":  My mother is, at heart, a white
Southerner.  Her pronunciations definitely include the former, but the  latter is
totally unknown in her speech.

As a lifelong resident of central and western NY State, I've never heard a
non-Southerner of any color say "yay-uss."  But "can't anybody" is  restricted
to moderately educated blacks; and "can't nobody" to undereducated  blacks.
Speaking only from my own observations, of course.

Rosemarie

The late worm misses the early  bird!





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