"Turn-about is fair play": StL hip-hop/rap BE

[Wilson Gray]

Most readers probably remember the long-running TV sitcom, Cheers.
Some will recall the AFAIK
?made-up-or-derived-from-the-onomatopoeia-specifically-for-this-show?
word, _boink_ v. tr. as a cover for "fuck." I still hear _boink_ used
that way from time to time in sitcoms broadcast - or should that be
"broadcasted? ;-)  - during or shortly after the family hour.

However, among hip-hoppers/rappers in Saint Louis, _boink_ is not used
*in place* of "fuck." It *is* _fuck_! Given that hip-hoppers/rappers
are known for their lack of any parts of self-censorship, I'm led to
make that claim. Considering that even the elder statesmen of the
genre are probably far too young to have a
euphemism-stealing-acquaintance with the old TV show, I assume that
the _boink_ of hip-hop/rap is a coincidental re-invention and not a
borrowing.

The pejoration of the nursery-level _boink_, based on nothing in
particular, *almost* makes up for the melioration of the formerly
gutter-level _tap that (ass)_, based on the image of tapping a keg of
beer. ;-)

It appears to be the case that the rule that activates the so-called
"St. Louis drawl" has been much simplified to V -> [+back]/_
[+rhotic], to borrow SPE-style notation. *Every* front vowel, from /i/
through /A/ (= aesc) goes to an [^]-like sound - "here" [h at r](?) still
fails to rhyme with "there" [D^r] - before any variety of English
rhotic, even the new, IME, and equally-weird, IMO, Spanish-like
trilled [r] (IPA symbol) derived from intervocalic /t/ and /d/.

Sadly, this means that, in StL BE, _Mary merry Murray_, once clearly
distinguished as M[E]ry m[E]ry_ vs. _M[^]ry_, now fall together:

"Does you mean thet you wants to borrow you Mary's hair-pressing cap
or thet you wants me to get you a Murray's hair-pressing cap?"

BTW, "nigger" [nig@] is still as popular in casual StL black speech as
it was in days of yore. The song, "St. Louis Anthem," could very
easily be re-titled "St. Louis Niggaz," on the basis of its refrain.

One singer notes that Saint Louis first rose to prominence as
"Nellyville," but, today, "_The Lou_ now belong t' urrbody."
Unfortunately, I can't avoid hearing "the loo"! ;-)

--
-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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