I wonder of the flush/flesh confusion
might not be a feature of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift. I hadn’t
heard of the NCVS going all the way to the west coast, but it has gotten at
least as far as
Herb
From:
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006
2:14 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Question: Language
change and malapropism
I've been hearing the same problem with
another phrase here in
This is how we entertain ourselves in
meetings!
Edith Wollin
From:
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006
9:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Question: Language
change and malapropism
Thanks for responding, Herb.
Yes, the students pronounce blase /blah- ze/. I have
heard it is from a rap song that has that refrain, but I'm afraid that I'm not
that familiar with rap music.
What bothers me about the "chock it up to
experience" example is that the student has no idea what
'chock/chalk' means--the phrase has become a linguistic whole for this
student. She has no clue that she is writing about metaphorically making
a chalk mark or tally. So this might be isolated BUT the /blah--ze/ is
not. I'm actually wondering if this could be thought of as onomatopeia.
Thanks.
Linda
PS I know what you mean about cot/caught and hock/hawk--we
lived in Chicago for several years, but now we are back East where all my NE
Philly relatives say things like "Yeeah, lez go howme"
-----Original Message-----
From:
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 09:26:43 -0500
Subject: Re: Question: Language change and malapropism
Interesting questions. Do they
pronounce "blasé" with two syllables or as if it has a silent
e? The chock/chalk confusion may arise from a sound change, the a/aw
merger that is found in a band about 100 miles north to south from about
Pittsburg west to the Mississippi and then everywhere west of the Mississippi north
of a line from about St. Louis to El Paso. These speakers pronounce
"cot" and "caught" with the same vowels, which, depending
on area, may be either both /a/ or both /aw/. There was until recently a
store in here in
Another widely used form of a different sort
is "hone in on" for "home in on". The Merriam Webster
Dictionary of English Usage dates this usage to 1978, citing it in a primary
campaign speech by George H. W. Bush. I have since found it in such
places as the New York Times Magazine. I still reject it in student
writing, which is, I fear, every bit as pedantic and tendentious as rejecting
"most unique".
Herb
From:
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006
8:44 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Question: Language change
and malapropism
The discussion of the broadening of the
meaning of 'unique' is interesting, but I see a different problem that
I might call widespread malapropism.
My students often create terms or use
them as malapropisms--and these may be derived from rap music or these may have
their roots in Microsoft Word's spell-checker. Does anyone else know anything
more about this?
One frequently occurring example is the
word 'blase' to mean "bla-bla-bla" or 'yadayadayada". My
students will actually say: "blase blase blase" thinking that it is
equivalent to these other terms. So when this phrase enters widespread
use, can we say that the meaning of 'blase' has altered? (even though
most students who use it in this context do not know that they have altered a
meaning; they think they have learned a new word.)
The other phenomenon has to do with what
we might call homonyms, such as:
'chock it up to experience'
"she was a pre-madonna"
While these examples are clearly
homonyms--and you think that the person had heard the phrase and has just
spelled it incorrectly, perhaps with the aid of a spell-checker--they really do
express concepts that are fundamentally different from the ones they mimic.
Chalking it up to experience is different
than chocking it up (or chucking it up) to experience.
A prima donna is a different concept than
a pre-Madonna, even though they both involve females.
Any thoughts?
Linda DiDesidero
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