[Ads-l] query on -s truncation

[Jim Parish]

Wilson Gray wrote:
> At one of the summer LSA's - '73? '74? - it was hip to do that with 
> proper names, whether of people or of animals. Everyone is familiar 
> with Barbara > Babs, of course. But, in this particular case, 
> everything began with the S-ing of the name of Jim Fidelholtz's dog - 
> which name I've forgotten. Jim > Jims, Ivan > Ives, Wilson > Wil[s], 
> Robert > Robs/Bobs, etc. Ivan and I continued as Ives and Wil[s] with 
> each other to the very end. 

Huh. For another data point, on the TV show "Mad About You" (1992-99), 
the female lead (played by Helen Hunt) was named "Jamie"; one of her 
close friends consistently called her "James".

Jim Parish

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org