dangers of dialect

[John McChesney-Young]

Arnold Zwicky wrote:

> Subject:      dangers of dialect
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> illustrated here:
>
> http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/dialect-dangerous-to-cats/

Sheep can be similarly endangered.

The mother-in-law of a friend of mine was from Kentucky ("KIN-tucky," as
she reportedly pronounced it) and at the beginning of their acquaintance
they were discussing a recipe and came to an ingredient that puzzled my
friend: "lamb juice."

My friend asked tentatively, "Lamb juice? You mean ... like, baby sheep?"

"No! No! Lamb juice! Lamb juice! Like lemons and lambs!"

John





--
John McChesney-Young ~ jmccyoung at gmail dot com ~ Berkeley, California
                       http://jmccyoung.blogspot.com

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