Who is Rosetta Stone?

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:25 PM -0500 9/6/08, Dennis Baron wrote:
>Gee, Wilson, I always thought that Rosetta Stone was the woman who got
>on the bus after Rosa Parks, and her first language wan't Anglish, it
>was Yiddish (her name had been Stein, and believe me, she couldn't
>sing for bupkes).

Actually, she was Rose Etta [< Rose Ethel] Stein.  My mother was an
Ethel [middle name]>Ettie when growing up, so it's plausible enough.

LH

>____________________
>Dennis Baron
>Professor of English and Linguistics
>Department of English
>University of Illinois
>608 S. Wright St.
>Urbana, IL 61801
>
>office: 217-244-0568
>fax: 217-333-4321
>
>http://illinois.edu/goto/debaron
>
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>
>On Sep 6, 2008, at 1:46 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:      Re: Who is Rosetta Stone?
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>You're wrong, Dennis. Rosetta Stone was a founder of the National
>>Association of Colored Women's Clubs. Though born in a sharecropper's
>>shack in the Mississippi Delta, by listening to recordings of the
>>speeches of Eleanor Roosevelt, she managed to lose her Southern-Negro
>>brogue and train herself to speak Proper Anglish, to the extent that
>>she was often mistaken for an upper-class white woman when she spoke
>>to the colored masses over the radio, thereby commanding their
>>respect, attention, and admiration. Hence, her connection with
>>language-learning by the use of recordings and the fact that the
>>company doesn't use her likeness in its ads.
>>
>>Little-known fact: The late, great Gospel-songstress, "Sister"
>>_Rosetta_ Tharp[sic] was named in her honor.
>>
>>-Wilson
>>
>>On Sat, Sep 6, 2008 at 12:36 PM, Dennis Baron <debaron at illinois.edu>
>>wrote:
>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>-----------------------
>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>Poster:       Dennis Baron <debaron at ILLINOIS.EDU>
>>>Subject:      Re: Who is Rosetta Stone?
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>I thought Rosetta Stone was one of the early organizers of the ILGWU,
>>>a labor leader who fought for the rights of exploited acronym makers
>>>in the early 1900s.
>>>____________________
>>>Dennis Baron
>>>Professor of English and Linguistics
>>>Department of English
>>>University of Illinois
>>>608 S. Wright St.
>>>Urbana, IL 61801
>>>
>>>office: 217-244-0568
>>>fax: 217-333-4321
>>>
>>>http://illinois.edu/goto/debaron
>>>
>>>read the Web of Language:
>>>http://illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On Sep 6, 2008, at 11:28 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>
>>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>-----------------------
>>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>>>Subject:      Re: Who is Rosetta Stone?
>>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>I notice that in=A0the latest commercial, Michael Phelps (always)
>>>>and the a=
>>>>nnouncer (predominantly) both favor the "Coretta King" stress
>>>>pattern.
>>>>=A0
>>>>Since a tiny Rosetta stone is the company's emblem, I can only
>>>>presume that=
>>>>they've abandoned their project of underestimating the knowledge of
>>>>the Am=
>>>>erican people.=20
>>>>=A0
>>>>Look for: future ads with=A0a lady=A0in Sarah Palin glasses ("flying
>>>>off th=
>>>>e shelves," according to Fox) saying, "Want to learn a language
>>>>fast? Hi! I=
>>>>'m=A0 Rosetta Stone...."
>>>>=A0
>>>>JL=0A=0A=0A
>>>>
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>>>
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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.
>>-----
>>-Mark Twain
>>
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