"earl" for "oil"

[Jonathan Lighter]

A top Iowa-born CNN anchor revealed today that she believes Texans say
"earl" for "oil."

Her assumption was met with appropriate ridicule.

What, they don't make kids memorize poetry anymore?

"Prince, when you call on a Brooklyn goil,
Say 'oil' for 'earl' and 'earl' for 'oil.'"

PS: In another unsolved mystery of the universe, I find no trace of these
lines (attributed in memory to Don Marquis) online, in GB, YBQ, JSTOR,
Bartlett's, or NewspArch.  Just who is behind the cover-up???

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org