blowzy

[Jonathan Lighter]

I've begun noticing /hau s at z/ too - but only recently.

If it was in use in NYC when I was growing up, I never noticed it. Nor do I
recall it being mentioned in linguistics classes when the greasy/greasy
variation was discussed.

The first time it caught my attention (can't say exactly when, probably on
cable news, probably within the last five years), I couldn't believe it.

JL

On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 7:56 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: blowzy
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> How about the plural of "house"?  I hear [-s at z] pretty often from
> non-Southerners.  Not sure about "housing."
>
> --Charlie
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Joel
> S. Berson [Berson at ATT.NET]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 9:17 PM
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Larry and I must have gone to the same elementary school.  (In an
> earlier message I said I might say "lausi" in the same circumstances
> -- when meaning "infested with lice".)
>
> Joel
>
> At 1/22/2013 04:56 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >Not me.
> >
> >JL
> >
> >On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 3:58 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
> >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> > > Subject:      Re: blowzy
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > On Jan 22, 2013, at 8:08 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > >
> > > > I grew up with both / grisi/ and / grizi /, but never in all my life
> > > have I
> > > > heard / lausi /.
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > >
> > > I don't know if I've heard it either, but I can imagine saying it if
> what
> > > I meant was "infested with lice".  Of course I might just say
> > > "lice/louse-infested" or "infested with lice", but what I don't think
> I'd
> > > say is "/lauzi/". If I were reading out loud and came across "lousy"
> with
> > > that meaning, I'd probably pronounce it "louse-y", to rhyme with
> "mousy".
> > >
> > > LH
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 1:11 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > >> -----------------------
> > > >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > >> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > >> Subject:      Re: blowzy
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >>
> > > >> On Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 8:10 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu>
> > > wrote:
> > > >>> A reminder:  In many varieties of Southern American English
> (including
> > > >> my own and, I would expect, Wilson's) "blouse" and "lousy" are
> > > pronounced
> > > >> with a [z].  Unlike > in the [s]-speaking parts of the
> country(which is
> > > >> most of them?).
> > > >>
> > > >> Wait. What? Of *course* these two words are pronounced with a [z]!
> > > >>
> > > >> --
> > > >> -Wilson
>
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