Off-gliding to G

[Wilson Gray]

It's been said that it's the middle lass that strives to maintain the
purity of RP. The under classes have no occasion to learn RP and the
upper classes are free to speak as they please, having no need to
impress their betters, since they have none.

-Wilson

On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 7:19 PM, Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Off-gliding to G
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> 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
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> 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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--
-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

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