Fwd: Re: Eddystone Light Fwd: Re: buoy [boy] ~ [BOO-ee]

[Dan Goodman]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Eddystone Light  Fwd: Re: buoy [boy] ~ [BOO-ee]
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:11:34 -0400
From: John Roberts
Reply-To: ballad-l at list.indiana.edu
To: ballad-l at list.indiana.edu

To throw in my 2¢, growing up in England (the West Midlands) I never
heard "boo-ee." "Boy" was it, and that's how Cyril Tawney sang it, where
I learned my version of the song from. In the NE US however, I never
hear "boy" and apart from the song, I have tended to modify my
pronunciation in hopes of being understood by the natives.
JR


On 3/28/14, 10:59 AM, Joe Fineman wrote:
> ballad-l-request at list.indiana.edu, in the person of Dan Goodman
> <dsgood at iphouse.com>, writes:
>
>> The American Dialect Society mailing list had a discussion on
>> pronunciation(s) of "buoy."
>
> The OED says that the standard British pronunciation is now "boy", but
> used to be "bwoi" (N.B. not "booey" -- the glide is at the beginning).
> It does add, tho, that "some orthoepists" give the "booey" version.  The
> AHD, OTOH, gives "booey" first & "boy" second.
>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: buoy [boy] ~ [BOO-ee]
>> Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:07:44 -0400
>> From: Laurence Horn
>> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>
>> ---------------------- 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: buoy [boy] ~ [BOO-ee]
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> You can find a bunch of different versions (52) of "Eddystone Light" on
>> iTunes; the excerpts I checked all have /@hoi/ and /boi/ (and the bit,I
>> just after that couple, about how one of the offspring was exhibited as
>> a talking fish and another served in a chafing dish; all very tragic),
>> but I didn't come across any (without having checked all 52) that
>> included the final spoken couplet below.  I guess it was the old
>> "Brothers Four" version that I dimly recall.
>
> In researching "Eddystone Light", you should also look up "The Man at
> the Nore" (a lightship, not a lighthouse).  See
> http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/PBB120.html.  At any rate,
> it contains the pun on "boy" as part of the 2nd stanza -- see
> http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=6670.
>


--
Dan Goodman
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.
http://dsgoodman.blogspot.com

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