1909

[Leslie Decker]

I remember my great-grandmother saying she was born in nineteen and four.


On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 11:07 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: 1909
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I've heard "two-oh-six" quite often in the wild, but, so far, only
> 2,000-10, though I personally use 20-10. The 1900's I know only from
> Westerns. Did anybody ever really use "19-aught-six" or "19-&-six"?
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 2:34 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: 1909
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I could be wrong, but in this case I very strongly doubt it. Despite
> > autosuggestive attempts to imagine them saying, "Nineteen six," "nineteen
> > nine," etc., it just sounds wrong.
> >
> > Of course, I have heard that formula from others, though I'm mostly
> familiar
> > with it through films and fiction.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 1:57 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
> >wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >> Subject:      Re: 1909
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> At 1:30 PM -0500 1/15/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >> >My NYC grandparents never used the forms "nineteen and..." or
> >> >"nineteen-ought...."  The only form I recall hearing from them (or from
> >> >anyone else outside of the movies) was "nineteen-oh...."
> >> >
> >> >JL
> >>
> >> But always "Nineteen oh six" and not "Nineteen six" for dates in the
> >> first decade of the century?  (Granted, you might not remember those
> >> earlier dates clearly, Jon.)
> >>
> >> LH
> >>  >
> >> >
> >> >On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 12:58 PM, Benjamin Zimmer <
> >> >bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> >>  -----------------------
> >> >>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> >>  Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> >> >>  Subject:      Re: 1909
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >>
> >> >>  On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 12:39 PM, Arnold Zwicky <
> zwicky at stanford.edu>
> >> >>  wrote:
> >> >>  >
> >> >>  > in my Choosing a Variant course this quarter, we've spent some
> time
> >> on
> >> >>  > the currently hot topic, year names (and number names).  one of
> the
> >> >>  > students has asked me how people in 1906 referred to that year.
>  it's
> >> >>  > likely that there were several possibilities, of course.
> >> >>  >
> >> >>  > anyone have any information on the question?
> >> >>
> >> >>  At the beginning of the last decade I poked around a bit for
> evidence,
> >> >>  from class cheers and the like. From what I could tell anecdotally,
> >> >>  the most common formulation was "nineteen six." This is sometimes
> >> >>  claimed as a Briticism, but there are plenty of examples in the U.S.
> >> >>  as well.
> >> >>
> >> >>  See this alt.usage.english post for cites:
> >> >>
> http://groups.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/msg/e8a4080f14289670
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>  --Ben Zimmer
> >> >>
> >> >>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >--
> >> >"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> >> truth."
> >> >
> >> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> -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
>

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