_Buthers_ and _Butters_

[Wilson Gray]

On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 7:22 PM, Ronald Butters <ronbutters at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Ronald Butters <ronbutters at AOL.COM>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: _Buthers_ and _Butters_
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I don't get it. Who is Buthers? Does he have an alveolar tap in the middle of his name, or a dental fricative?
>
> On Mar 22, 2012, at 5:01 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
>> Any resemblance is very likely coincidental, but,
>>
>> Youneverknow.
>>
>> --
>> -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
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


The reference is to the surname of

Christiane Miranda _Buthers_

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002827175491

a Brazilian Facebook-only friend.

So, I have no idea how she pronounces the name. But, from the spelling
and the fact that Buthers as a surname exists in Texas and Arkansas,
whereas Butters also exists in Texas, as well as in Iowa, Wisconsin,
Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, etc., all the way to Maine - and to
California, for that matter - who knows but what Buthers might be only
trivially-distinct from Butters.

Youneverknow.

--
-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

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