_Fag_ = "a horse for easy riding" or some such?

[Wilson Gray]

On Sat, Feb 19, 2011 at 10:01 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> Fag, n.1, sense 2.a.: Â "In English public
> schools, a junior who performs certain duties for a senior."
>

Dern (Both Bruce and Laura)! I know that! Oh, well.

I wonder whether the _d[^]rn_ v. _d[a]rn_ dichotomy is somehow
vaguely/distantly related to the _cl[^]rk_ v. _cl[a]rk dichotomy.

_Dern_ is used in Marshall, Texas, BE, an otherwise r-less speech.
Well, [r] occurs in hypercorrections like "judge" /dZ^dZ > [dZEdZ]
(formerly used by me) and [dZ^IdZ] (used by my grandmother) > [dZ^rdZ]
(used by my mother) and as intrusive-r: "my eyes, my affairs, Buick" >
"my r-eyes, my r-affairs,           Bu-r-ick," etc.

But _dern_ isn't really a rarity, is it?  I can't recall for certain
that I've heard it anywhere else. But, of course, I wouldn't have had
any reason to notice it.

--
-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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