"earl" for "oil"

Sat Jul 19 23:44:28 UTC 2014

BTW, "goil" is not yet recognized as a variant by OED.

1894 _The Illustrated American_  (Sept. 8) 306: I'm a Bow'ry goil,/ Yes, a
Bow'ry goil;/ To sing and dance is moy dee-light,/ An' I ken keep it up all
night.

If we allow for the conventions of standard orthography, my grandfather
(born in Yorkville in 1884) never pronounced it any other way.

JL

On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 7:25 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "earl" for "oil"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
> > > >>
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> >
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