[Ads-l] Saying: "I see, " said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw.
Amy West
medievalist at W-STS.COM
Thu Jan 3 15:31:14 UTC 2019
On 1/3/19 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> [Begin excerpt]
> Here is a remarkable case. The other day a wagon maker who had been
> dumb for years, picked up a hub and spoke. =E2=80=94Binghampton Republican.
*This* I find interesting: that lack of speech is the associated
disability with being a wheelwright (more strictly speaking). To me, it
does not seem an occupational handicap, like being blind for a
carpenter. Thinking more on them, being deaf is not as disabling for a
sheepherder as being dumb/mute (having to call to dogs); being a
noseless fisherman would be a plus (not smelling the fish!).
All interesting comments on/associations with the occupations.
---Amy West
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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