Puritan euphemisms

[Baker, John]

        The Puritans themselves, on either side of the pond, were not much for writing plays, especially plays meant to depict everyday life, so that probably isn't going to be a useful guide to their colloquial speech.  I guess they could have been characters in plays written by non-Puritans, but I don't know of any examples and doubt if that would be a reliable guide to their speech anyway.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Charles C Doyle
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 12:50 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Puritan euphemisms

I wasn't thinking of American literature as distinct from British literature in earlier times--though, of course, American speech had already begun to differentiate itself.  But any verbal behavior specifically identifiable as "puritan" would perhaps have been similar on both sides of the pond.

--Charlie

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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Baker, John [JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 12:29 PM

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But when did Americans start writing plays?  If before about 1830, I don't think it was vastly before.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Charles C Doyle
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 10:49 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Puritan euphemisms

Though printed versions of plays often do preserve somebody's (artistic) impression of colloquial speech.

--Charlie

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From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 10:41 AM

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> I haven't studied colloquial, secular writing, but I suspect there wasn't
much before -- when? the 3rd quarter of the 18th century?

My impression is that colloquial writing was very rare in America before ca
1830. It was given a boost by an outbreak of relatively informal, often
humorous writing in papers like  The Spirit of the Times__.

What this seems to mean is that everyday conversation in the 18th C. must
have sounded far more "modern" in certain ways [note weaseling] than the
written record might suggest

(Of course that's always the case.)

JL

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