I say "Lusitan-i-ay"

[Herb Stahlke]

I've been told by residents of the place, including my son for a few years,
that Piqua, OH, is pronounced "Pickway."

Herb


On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 11:03 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: I say "Lusitan-i-ay"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 8/20/2014 07:46 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> >In this thread from many years ago I noted that Matthew Arnold formally
> >rhymed  "Lusitania" with "I say" back in 1879.
> >
> >Here's another, if less formal example of the same principal.
> >
> >Fiddlin' John Carson and His Virgina Reelers recorded a song about the
> >Civil War called "Dixie Division" in 1924.  You can very distinctly hear
> >Fiddlin' John a-singin' "Georgia, Alabama, Flori-day."
> >
> >That's the normal "George-uh" and "Alabam-uh," Not "Georgy" or "Alabammy."
> >
> >Go, as they say, figger.
>
> Eeraye, Eeraye, ay.  Well, close:
>
> Patsy ory ory ay
> Patsy ory ory ay
> Patsy ory ory ay
> Working on the railroad.
>
> (Why the last line isn't published as "Working on the railway" I have
> no idea.  I'm sure around the campfires many sang it that way to
> introduce a rhyme.)
>
> JSB.
>
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