"earl" for "oil"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Half the mystery is solved.

The lines I recalled from the "mid to late '60s" were attributed to Don
Marquis by the playwright and novelist Laurence Stallings in _The
Doughboys_ (N.Y.: Harper, 1963), ch. 11:

"[The 77th Division, AEF, consisted solely of men from NYC and environs.]
There were Turks who spoke a little Hebrew and Hebrews who spoke a little
Arabic. Many could speak nothing but Brooklyn English; their accent was
that of the Don Marquis ballad that ended:

       "Prince, when you call on a Brookalyn goil,
       Say Poil for Pearl, and erl for oil."

I still haven't traced its original appearance.

JL


On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 6:20 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "earl" for "oil"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At first I thought I'd learned the rhyme from an old edition of Bartlett's,
> but when I checked it wasn't there.
>
> Then I checked Mencken. Not there either.
>
> All I can say for sure is that I picked it up in the mid to late '60s.
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 5:28 PM, Garson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "earl" for "oil"
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Below are two cites that mention this style of speech. I did not find
> > the lines of Don Marquis in my quick search.
> >
> > Cite: 1918, Longmans' English Lessons for the Fourth Year, by George
> > J. Smith, Page 81, Longmans, Green and Co., New York. (Google Books
> > full view)
> > http://books.google.com/books?id=pvEAAAAAYAAJ&q=goil#v=snippet&
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > We must not speak oil as earl, or earl as oil.
> > We must not say terl for toil, or goil for girl.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> >
> > Cite: 1912 December 18, New York Dramatic Mirror, Purifying Our
> > English, Page 10, Column 2, New York. (Old Fulton)
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > Of course, we all know of that queer use of the r, by which it becomes
> > oi, and oi becomes r, so that oil becomes "earl," join becomes "jern,"
> > oyster, "erst," while third becomes "thoyd," girl, "goil," turn,
> > "toin." and lurch, "loich;" and, too, that elegant echo of the curb,
> > the employment of t for the aspirate th, as when an East Side gamin
> > threatens to "t'row a fit."
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 4:33 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Re: "earl" for "oil"
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Do they pronounce the "r" at all audibly?
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 4:16 PM, 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: "earl" for "oil"
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 9:15 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> > >> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >> > A top Iowa-born CNN anchor revealed today that she believes Texans
> say
> > >> > "earl" for "oil."
> > >>
> > >> Perhaps she's familiar only with th' earl bidniss in Kilgo' 'n' otha
> > >> Eess Teksiss locations.
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> -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
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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>



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