Mac vs. Mc

[Wilson Gray]

"1066 and All That" is surely one of the most important books of our
time, right up there with "The Peter Principle," "Noblesse Oblige,"
and "Words in our Time," (cf. p41: ""She suffers from _copelessness_.'
I have heard this said of an unsatisfactory employee. _The use of cope
as a verb by itself to describe dealing with all kinds of situations
is a recent usage_. In my youth we tried, or were told to try, to cope
with this or that problem. We were not required to cope in general.")

The last contains the earliest documented mention of "copelessness"
that I have been able to find in a quick Googling, though I recall
reading a "comic" (in the sense of "comic" novel) book on the topic of
copelessness, a form of depression, prior to 1954, IIRC.

-Wilson

On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 7:56 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>  Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>  Subject:      Re: Mac vs. Mc
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  You mean "1066 and All That" is not authoritative?  A colleague has
>  reminded me of the following passage:
>
>  'Important Note: The Scots (originally Irish, but by now Scotch) were
>  at this time inhabiting Ireland, having driven the Irish (Picts) out
>  of Scotland; while the Picts (originally Scots) were now Irish (living
>  in brackets) and vice versa. It is essential to keep these
>  distinctions clearly in mind (and vice versa)'
>
>  Joel
>
>
>
>  At 3/25/2008 12:11 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>  >Supposedly, it is true. And it could be even worse than that. As I
>  >recall, a certain General M'Arthur was involved in WWII. And Welsh
>  >_map_, cognate with Gaelic _macc_, became _p_ all by itself: map Huwyl
>  >becoming _Powell_ without the aid of the English Army.
>  >
>  >In any case, it's just a spelling thing. E.g., "Taggart" was once _mac
>  >an tSagart_, "son of the Priest," a name that antedates the
>  >romanization of the Celtic Catholic Church of Ireland. And it didn't
>  >stop at that level: "McNab" was once _mac an Abb_, "son of the Abbot."
>  >
>  >-Wilson.
>  >
>  >On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 9:33 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>  > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>  > -----------------------
>  > >  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>  > >  Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>  > >  Subject:      Mac vs. Mc
>  > >
>  > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  > >
>  > >  Is there any truth to the assertion that in personal names "Mac" is
>  > >  Scottish, while "Mc" is Irish?
>  > >
>  > >  Does the answer depend on the period -- e.g., before the 19th century
>  > >  vs. later?
>  > >
>  > >  Joel
>  > >
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>  >
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>  >come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
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>  >  -Sam'l Clemens
>  >
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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

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