rhythmic blends

[Jonathan Lighter]

Nice work, Dave.

JL

On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 10:22 AM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: rhythmic blends
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> According to Wikipedia (and many other sites), in the 1952 _Son of Ali
> Baba_Curtis did utter the line, "This is the palace of my father, and
> yonder
> lies the Valley of the Sun."
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Shield_of_Falworth#False_quotation
>
> Other sites state that his accent is not especially noticeable as delivers
> the line.
>
> The same Wikipedia article also credits a remark by Debbie Reynolds made
> "on
> television" with starting the tale about Curtis's line. It footnotes it,
> but
> to _Leisure Ways_ magazine dated "1980s." A citation that is even vaguer
> than the legend.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 6:50 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: rhythmic blends
>
> The movie in question was _The Black Shield of Falworth_ (1954).  I have a
> distinct (i.e., possibly phony) recollection of reading long ago that
> Curtis
> never uttered that line in the film (which remember even more vaguely).
>  But
> he certainly did sound like Tony Curtis throughout, just as in _Taras
> Bulba_
> (1962).
>
> A Google search, including GB, tends to confirm the line's absence. It may
> have been popularized (SWAGging here) by somebody like Frank Gorshin in one
> of his many appearances on the Sullivan show.
>
> Whippersnappers: Gorshin was an adept impressionist before he became "The
> Riddler."
>
> Ultra-Whippersnappers: "The Riddler" was a villain on the old _Batman_
> show.  The guy doing the current comic-book-style insurance commercials
> beginning "Fellow citizens! As we speak..." is Adam West, formerly Batman.
>
> Non-whippersnappers: He's over 80 now.
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 8:53 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: rhythmic blends
> >
> >
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
> >
> > Speaking of Noo-Yawk-ish, remember when Tony Curtis was laughed at for
> > saying, in some long- forgotten swashbuckler,
> >
> > "Yonda is my fadda's castle"?
> >
> > I didn't see the movie, whatever it was. So, I have no opinion - well,
> > IMO, he probably *didn't* say it - as to what Curtis actually said.
> > But, IAC, he was famous for fifteen minutes for *supposedly* having
> > spoken thus.
> >
> > He probably got pretty tired of having to laugh it off, except when he
> > was on his way to the bank.
> >
> > -Wilson
> >
> > On Sun, Jul 11, 2010 at 12:46 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:      rhythmic blends
> > >
> >
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---
> > >
> > > Hilton Als (b. 1961) writes in the current _New Yorker_ of Al Pacino's
> > > speech in the current _Merchant of Venice_:
> > >
> > > "Pacino...brings to Shylock that appealing New York City diction, a
> > > combination of black, Jewish, and Puerto Rican rhythms."
> > >
> > > What, no Italian?  (Dutch used to be invoked, but now everybody knows
> > that's
> > > a stretch.)  I didn't notice any particular rhythmic substrates in
> > Pacino's
> > > film Shylock, except for "Jewish" - I guess Als means "Yiddish" (after
> > all,
> > > it *is* Shylock) - and I marvel at anyone's ability to isolate the
> > others,
> > > not just in Pacino's case but in NYC diction generally.
> > >
> > > Pop journalists like to mention "speech rhythms."  That seems to be the
> > > preferred idiom for all dialectal and idiolectical elements that really
> > > are too complex for pop-media discussion.
> > >
> > > It wasn't long ago - certainly in the '50s and '60s - that
> working-class
> > > diction like Pacino's was usually considered "unappealing."  So some
> > things
> > > do change for the better.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > --
> > > "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
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "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