top and tail

[Charles C Doyle]

In my dialect, the term "lime bean" hardly occurs:  They are all "butter beans."  DARE defines "butter bean" as "A lima bean, esp a small one"--with dots on the map throughout the greater South and the Midwest (and elsewhere).  I'm guessing that the "esp" part of the definition refers esp to the non-Southern places.

--Charlie

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Laurence Horn [laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 12:53 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

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On Jul 18, 2012, at 12:21 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 9:37 AM, Laurence Horn =
<laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>> string beans in my native dialect
>=20
> In mine, too. Do you also have "snap beans" and "butter beans"?
>=20
>=20
> --

Funny you should ask.  I don't (natively), but I've encountered both, =
the latter just yesterday.  The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a great =
trio/quartet of performers playing traditional and eclectic music, came =
through New Haven this summer and played a great set on the Green, =
featuring "Cornbread and Butter Beans"*, one of their signature songs =
they've also recorded on a CD we just acquired--"Genuine Negro Jig"--and =
my wife was asking me if I knew what butter beans are.  I tried to =
describe them based on the version I've had in restaurants and the Yale =
dining halls--sort of like lima beans but yellowish/beigish instead of =
green--but there are probably more accurate descriptions out there. =20

LH

*Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D1xOxHyTP91c

Cornbread and butterbeans and you across the table
Eatin' beans and makin' love as long as I am able
Growin' corn and cotton too and when the day is over
Ride the mule and cut the fool and love again all over

[I assume "cut the fool" is basically 'hang out, have fun'?]




> -Wilson

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