"Divan"

[Jonathan Lighter]

My grandmother (b. 1888 in NYC) told me as a child that "some people" *used*
to say "davenport," but that she'd always said "sofa" or "couch."

Her pronunciation of "divan" was "dih-VAN," but that was just another word
that "some people" used to use.

JL

On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 1:11 PM, Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at wmich.edu>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Divan"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Wilson,
>
> My grandmother (born 1879, NYC) used "DYE-van" interchangeably with
> davenport to designate the couch.  My mom (b. 1904) used the word
> occasionally, but I've never heard anyone younger use it.  My students laugh
> at me when I mention this.
>
> Paul Johnston
> On Nov 8, 2010, at 10:06 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      "Divan"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Just heard it pronounced "dih-VAN." I've always used " 'DYE-van."
> > Rather, I've always mentally-pictured it that way. I don't recall that
> > I've ever had occasion to speak this word.
> >
> > --
> > -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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