tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post7470029339273195139..comments2023-10-19T07:54:32.841-04:00Comments on Quod She: "Behold the left flank!" and other misheard soundsDr. Viragohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-26292865257504738132008-02-25T15:43:00.000-05:002008-02-25T15:43:00.000-05:00Jawin' is one syllable south of the Mason-Dixon an...Jawin' is one syllable south of the Mason-Dixon and it rhymes with Dawn.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-15179742521778466822008-02-25T08:27:00.000-05:002008-02-25T08:27:00.000-05:00Fizzy, well yeah, but that's because "jawin'" is t...Fizzy, well yeah, but that's because "jawin'" is two syllables. But since I never *use* that word...why do you ask?Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-40766738618949826552008-02-24T23:19:00.000-05:002008-02-24T23:19:00.000-05:00Can you tell the difference between "John" and "ja...Can you tell the difference between "John" and "jawin'"? Jawin' as in chewing the fat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-29094901885006595292008-02-24T11:52:00.000-05:002008-02-24T11:52:00.000-05:00Hi again! That's really unfortunate. I'll have t...Hi again! That's really unfortunate. I'll have to get details from you later about the weird job market behavior. It's certainly not something I want to be associated with and yet I'm finding myself in an awkward position now. The sad thing is that the other job is actually a worse job but in NYC, which I assume is the prime attraction.Feirefizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00024919688932951601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-27661975807919779832008-02-24T11:28:00.000-05:002008-02-24T11:28:00.000-05:00Hi Feirefiz, good to hear from you! But sorry to ...Hi Feirefiz, good to hear from you! But sorry to hear about your annoying candidate woes. It's one thing to ask for extra time; it's another thing to renege! Sheesh!<BR/><BR/>You know, there's something up with the people from your alma mater these days...I've heard or witnessed some weird job market behavior among the recent cohort, particularly an over-inflated sense of what they "deserve" in terms of jobs. I blame their advisors, who must be pressuring them to think very hierarchically about what jobs are "good enough" for them.Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-6922277193790262462008-02-24T11:02:00.000-05:002008-02-24T11:02:00.000-05:00Hi--I looked at the PBS site--looks very interesti...Hi--I looked at the PBS site--looks very interesting. I particularly like the article on whether men or women talk more. The claim that men and higher status people talk more in public spaces as a way of asserting authority certainly squares with my experience in academe.<BR/><BR/>By the way, I saw your earlier post about your idiot president, and I'm very sorry to hear about it. It seems like he's just taking money from the poor to give to the rich--hmm . . . sounds familiar?<BR/><BR/>I could in turn complain about our president but our does have his good side--so I'll complain about a job candidate instead. We made an offer for the search we're doing now, and he accepted (after he got a little extra time beyond the standard 2 weeks to complete an interview somewhere else), and then a few days later he reneges! The worst of it is that he's from my own alma mater. I'm hopping mad since we've already told our second choice that the job's taken and now the search may well end up failing. And I fear that we may lose the line.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I am glad that you and Bullock can find distractions around the house--I also looked at the pictures of the table he's made. Wow, the man is talented!Feirefizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00024919688932951601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-66159405010444558482008-02-23T14:11:00.000-05:002008-02-23T14:11:00.000-05:00Sis -- I could have been Ms. V and Fizzy who mocke...Sis -- I could have been Ms. V and Fizzy who mocked me, since you were only around on holidays.Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-19940780134676179772008-02-23T13:55:00.000-05:002008-02-23T13:55:00.000-05:00OK, not only do I not remember the incident that i...OK, not only do I not remember the incident that is so firmly in your memory, but I hadn't realized your generation speaks and hears those two sounds differently. Am I a dinosaur? Don't answer that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-59048642013191070762008-02-23T11:07:00.000-05:002008-02-23T11:07:00.000-05:00Steve -- I would be greatly disappointed to find a...Steve -- I would be greatly disappointed to find a cot instead of a cat, too! :)<BR/><BR/>Karl -- I can't tell you how much better it makes me feel to hear you have a story similar to mine! I take great comfort in that!<BR/><BR/>Tempests -- Yes, I probably would do better there too. I did OK with the American one, getting all the midland speakers and northern cities speakers right. But I confused a mid-Atlantic speaker with a New Englander and a southerner with a westerner (bizarrely enough). And I drive my students nuts always using Brit accents as examples. I mean, I really shouldn't expect them to know what a Liverpudlian short -u- sounds like!!<BR/><BR/>TE -- Goodness, I think I only just realized in retrospect that that's been a problem for me, too. And of *course* it is, because many of them pronounce "cat" something like "ceeyat"! Duh!<BR/><BR/>Suddenly so many things are making sense!Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-60432254368551898422008-02-23T07:06:00.000-05:002008-02-23T07:06:00.000-05:00For me, the hardest part of teaching HEL and OE de...For me, the hardest part of teaching HEL and OE deep inside the Northern Cities Shift was convincing students that æsc was not a diphthong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-48498551337117801402008-02-23T00:04:00.000-05:002008-02-23T00:04:00.000-05:00The "Do You Speak American?" website is fun, isn't...The "Do You Speak American?" website is fun, isn't it? I saw the special and bought the book for my high-school Spanish teacher (I see her during most of my winter breaks; it was a very small high school). <BR/><BR/>The odd thing, though, is that I discovered the website right around the same time that I found a BBC (I think) quiz on British accents. I did much better on the BBC one than the American one! I was horrified.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-74063046603336939902008-02-22T22:47:00.000-05:002008-02-22T22:47:00.000-05:00I had something similar happen to me trying to tea...I had something similar happen to me trying to teach place of articulation to classes of Southern Californian natives.<BR/><BR/>I would typically try to get them to feel front vs. back articulation by contrasting /i/ and /u/, but a substantial minority frequently claimed to be unable to tell the difference.<BR/><BR/>I put this down to a simple inability to introspect for several years, until I realized that these people all showed the classic SoCal fronting of back vowels and retraction of front vowels (i.e., valley girl/surfer dude speak), so for them, both vowels were much closer to mid vowels.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15231380.post-9387502466103910962008-02-22T21:34:00.000-05:002008-02-22T21:34:00.000-05:00Long ago my stepdaughter (Ontario) was visiting he...Long ago my stepdaughter (Ontario) was visiting her Chicago grandmother, and the good lady told her there was a "cot in the closet." Young girl was disappointed to find only furniture, and no pet there.<BR/><BR/>I've been driven nuts by Torontonians laughing because they had the same names: Don and Dawn.Steve Muhlbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18136005762428407135noreply@blogger.com