"Suspect", v. and n.

[Spanbock/Svoboda-Spanbock]

Toward the end of the Thin Man:

William Powell: I'm going to give a party and invite all of the susPECTS.

Myrna Loy: The susPECTS? They won't come!

--
Kate Svoboda-Spanbock

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On Jul 6, 2012, at 1:08 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Suspect", v. and n.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> I've seen a million old movies, and, for what it's worth, I've never
> noticed that pronunciation.
> 
> I doubt the actor would have used that pronunciation,or that the director
> wouldn't have corrected it, unless it seemed perfectly normal.
> 
> Cf. "permit," n.  I posted an old-movie ex. of stress on the second
> syllable a couple of years ago. Unlike susPECT, I have frequently heard
> this in real life.
> 
> JL
> 
> On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 9:28 PM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jim Parish <jparish at SIUE.EDU>
>> Subject:      "Suspect", v. and n.
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> This evening, I was watching the 1933 movie "The Kennel Murder Case".
>> Towards the end of the film, several characters use the word "suspect"
>> as a noun; each of them pronounces it with stress on the second
>> syllable, rather than (what I'm more accustomed to) the first. Does
>> anyone know whether this pronunciation was common at that time, or have
>> any other explanation?
>> 
>> Jim Parish
>> 
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
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