Bisquit

[Wilson Gray]

On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 6:10 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Bisquit
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My mother says her mother (born c.. 1912) always spelled "biscuit" with a "q."
>
> The OED provides a single citation from 1330 but it is spelled as "besquite."
>
> http://www.boutell.com/vegetarian/bisquit.html says:
>
> -----
> This is a great recipe for home-made bisquits, often spelled _biscuit_ or _scone_ by people who don't know any better.
> -----
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

FWIW, my mother's mother, whom I knew personally, was born in 1897 and
used the spelling, _biscuit_, which is the one that I, too, use. I've
always *assumed* that the source is French _bis_ plus French _cuit_,
but I really have no idea.

It's hard to imagine that someone hearing approximately [bIskIt]
wouldn't know any better than to spell that sound "scone." But, of
course,

Youneverknow.

Of course, I must assert that, IMO, the "people who don't know any
better" are those few who _believe_ that the accepted spelling is
_bisquit_, as opposed to those who simply _prefer_ that spelling, as I
prefer to use _shwa_ and not _schwa_.

--
-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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