zink/sink

[Joseph Salmons]

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:

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