Off-gliding to G

[Herb Stahlke]

Lord Peter also uses "ain't" freely.  This went out of favor in the
18th c. because of the success of the self-help books, including
grammars, that, of course, the nobility never bothered to read.

Herb

On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 5:54 PM, Alison Murie <sagehen7470 at att.net> wrote:
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> Poster:       Alison Murie <sagehen7470 at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Off-gliding to G
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> On Sep 25, 2009, at 2:43 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
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>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: Off-gliding to G
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>> At 1:37 PM -0500 9/25/09, Barbara Need wrote:
>>> Lynne,
>>>
>>> I wonder how much this might be a reaction to the "g-dropping" in
>>> participles (huntin', fishing', etc.). I have assumed that this was a
>>> shibboleth in England based on its treatment in mysteries (there's at
>>> least one Agatha Christie in which it is a clue!).
>>>
>>> Barbara
>>
>> Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey affects this "g-dropping" in
>> participles as an instance of reverse snobbery (as I understand it).
>>
>> LH
> ~~~~~~~~~~
> I think Wimsey's dropped g's are meant to reflect a general upper
> class dialect: one that may be affected to show a kind of insouciance,
> rather than reverse snobbery.
> AM
> My ISP choked on this giving me time to read Paul Johnston's post
> which sort of confirms my impression.
>
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