LL-L "Idiomatica" 2009.07.20 (02) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 20 July 2009 - Volume 02
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From: Brooks, Mark <mark.brooks at twc.state.tx.us>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.07.17 (04) [EN]

Karl wrote: “My companion, younger than I am, raised mostly in small towns
in Texas, has known the expression "gussied up" all his life, and added,
without prompting, that he remembers old people using it.”

Yes, I think I’ve only heard it from “older” people.  Does the fact that I
used it make me old? ;-)  I do live in Texas, by the way, and have trod this
earth for 58 years.

I have noticed another interesting item regarding older people.  My mother
and dad live with my wife and me.  They have taken to using old-timey
phrases that they never used to say.  But, as they have gotten older (both
in their late 80s) they have started talking like their parents used to.
For example, my mother says things like “I reckon” now, which she never used
to say.  I remember her mother (my grandmother) saying it all the time.

I wonder if we have sort of a secondary lexicon that we don’t use until we
reach 70 or 80 years old.  Maybe reverting to using the kind of speech we
heard as a child from our parents.  Just an idea.

Mark Brooks
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From: R. F. Hahn
<sassisch at yahoo.com<http://uk.mc264.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sassisch@yahoo.com>
>
Subject: Idiomatica

Hey, Mark, Gang!

This is fascinating.

It would be interesting to figure out if this register switching is a family
tradition or if it's more widespread. It sounds to me like a cultural
phenomenon. When people identify themselves as seniors they change their
lifestyles, their dress, their self-perceived status within the family and
society at large, their behavior, oftentimes their opinions regarding social
matters, their expectations as to be treated, and so forth. Perhaps in this
case they feel they need to change their language behavior as well,
apparently following their parents' and grandparents' lead. I find that
fascinating.

I myself have noticed in several "Western" countries that older people,
especially older women, will refrain from using "naughty" expressions that
they used to use when they were younger. Especially a swearing old woman is
still perceived as an outrageous and unbecoming phenomenon. (I once watched
a YouTube video made by young guys of an old Hamburg woman berating them in
the most foul-mouthed Missingsch anyone can imagine, apparently because they
kept passing by her window pestering her to coax this foul language out of
her.) I guess (or reckon or figure) this is because society expects old
people to behave in an especially dignified manner, this stemming from a
time when elders occupied the highest social status, were considered leaders
and were revered (as it still is in most non-"Western" societies). In New
Age archetypal life role classification this is the stage of "Crone" and
"King".

But sometimes there seems to be no accounting for language behavior,
especially idiolectical behavior. For instance, at one point in time, my
maternal grandmother (the one of Sorbian background) took to lisping
whenever and only when she talked about money. I remember how fascinating I
found that as a child. I never heard anyone else do that. Was it because she
was a dirt-poor widow and money was an unpleasant subject for her?

As for "I reckon", I used that all the time when I arrived in the States
from Australia, because its use is normal in Australia, at least was normal
at the time. Several Americans told me to stop it. Only one person (a
Midwesterner) told me why: it sounded to her as though I was trying (very
unsuccessfully) to put on a "Cowboy accent".

Another type of expression I used at that time irritated several Americans:
"I wonder if ...", e.g., "I wonder if you'd mind giving me a lift" instead
of something like "Do you mind giving me a ride?" or just "Will you give me
a ride?" or even just "Please give me a ride". They thought it was
super-politely indirect, irritatingly so, when to me it was normal at the
time. And then again, several American expressions are rather indirect and
can grate on speakers of other English dialects as well. An example is the
common practice of dressing commands up as polite questions; e.g. a boss
saying, "How would you like writing a weekly report from now on?" to which
the answer had better not be "Not very much", because it's a command:
"(You'll) write a weekly report from now on."

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

P.S.: I heard from our lately almost incomunicado Sandy (Fleming). His
trials and tribulations regarding his Internet connection seem to be nearing
their end. I can't wait to have him back in the thick of things so we can
pet or pummel him when the mood strikes us ...

•

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