More 1908 Dialect Notes on E 'Bama (white) English

Randy Alexander strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM
Mon Aug 30 14:07:03 UTC 2010


On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 10:49 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> "You don't say!" Â Common in movies of fifty years ago and more. Am not
> sure if I've ever heard a person utter it live.

I'm sure I've heard it uttered live lots of times in lots of places.

> I never heard "titty" in NYC except in derisive contexts about nursing
> babies. "Tit" was the universal rude synonym. Â When I first heard "titty" i=
> n
> the South, it seemed weird.

I've known this as the universal diminutive form of "tit", which is
quite universal.

--
Randy Alexander
Jilin City, China
Blogs:
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Language in China (group blog): http://www.sinoglot.com/blog

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