[Ads-l] Dialect clash

[Wilson Gray]

A Phoenix, Arizona, police detective, in "interviewing" a local black man
about a botched armed-robbery attempt in which a motel clerk was killed,
says,

Q. Well, if you gave him the gun, then you must know his name. What is it?
A. Johnny Riley.
Q. Johnny Rawley?
A. Johnny Riley.
Q. Johnny Raleigh?
A. Johnny *Riley*!
Q. Johnny Ralley?
A. Johnny *Riley*, officer! Stop playing!
Q. Oh, Johnny _Riley_! OK. And that's "detective."
A. Yeah.
-- 
-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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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org