autumn vs. fall

[Tom Zurinskas]

Let's hope they don't autumn on their faces any more over that.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+
see truespel.com phonetic spelling




> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Paul Frank
> Subject: Re: autumn vs. fall
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Laurence,
>
> Actually, I subscribed to the IHT until last year (now I read the NY
> Times and the Post on my Kindle) and noticed that the word "fall" in
> the Times was often replaced by the word "autumn" in the IHT (I
> checked a couple of times). As you know, the IHT is owned by the Times
> and carries articles from the Times. Once, about four years ago, I
> noticed that a copy editor had mistakenly replaced "fall" by "autumn"
> when it obviously didn't refer to a season but to a drop. Pretty
> silly.
>
> Paul
>
> Paul Frank
> Translator
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> On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 7:38 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender: Â Â Â American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Â Â Â Laurence Horn
> > Subject: Â Â Â Re: autumn vs. fall
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > At 5:43 PM +0100 11/9/10, Paul Frank wrote:
> >>Brander Matthews (1852-1929) once wrote, "An American with a sense of
> >>the poetic cannot but prefer to the imported word 'autumn' the native
> >>and more logical word 'fall,' which the British have strangely
> >>suffered to drop into disuse."
> >>
> >>Is the word "autumn," as opposed to "fall," gaining popular currency
> >>in American English? Over the past five years or so, I've noticed it
> >>more and more in American newspapers, magazines, and on the radio. I
> >>realize that the word "autumn" has always been available to Americans,
> >>but I'm wondering if it's becoming more common...
> >>
> > And not just over the past 5 years. Â Compare this eloquent plaint
> > from over a decade ago:
> > =================
> > ... "Since the autumn of the Berlin Wall a decade ago, rightist
> > violence has become a fact of German life" (IHT, August 2 [2000], p.
> > 5). This makes me think that a New York Times slot man or drudge
> > makes it his business to replace the word fall with the posher but in
> > my opinion uglier word autumn.
> >
> > More likely some stylistic rule that makes the change. Reminds me of
> > that list of songs printed somewhere, that included "African-American
> > is the Color of My True Love's Hair."
> >
> > RIma [McKinzey]
> > =================
> > For British English, though, a distinction is sometimes made between
> > the three-month season and the actual leaf-dropping, as witness the
> > minimal pair in this observation:
> >
> > The fall had come late this year, and after one of the most beautiful
> > autumns she could remember.
> >
> > --P. D. James (2004), The Murder Room
> > LH
>
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