Muddy Waters and sE

[Wilson Gray]

I've noticed that one of Muddy Water's (if you listen to him talk,
you'll notice that he never refers to himself as Muddy _Waters_, only
as Muddy Water; this proves nothing, of course, since loss of plural
-s is typical of BE and, even when he does use /s/, he often
Puerto-Rico's it to [h]) older sides, from the 'Fifties, has been
retitled to "Ma_nn_ish Boy," although anyone who danced to the
original, knows that the original title coincided with the singer's
pronunciation: "Ma_n_ish Boy."

A more recent song, from 1972, bears the title, "Can't Get No Grindin'
(What's The Matter With The _Meal_?) Clearly, the subtitle should
read, "What's The Matter With The _Mill_?", as anyone familar with
BE/SE can testify.

-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.
-----
-Mark Twain

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