Puritan euphemisms

[Laurence Horn]

On Oct 24, 2012, at 1:29 PM, Baker, John wrote:

>        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
>
>

I don't suppose we could mine "The Crucible" for evidence…

LH

>
> -----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
>
> ________________________________________
> 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
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>
> ________________________________________
> 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
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> 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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