Why
I`ve been thinking about `Why` used in an exclamatory way, as in Homer Simpson`s `Why, you little.....!`, or `Why, I never did!`, etc. Is there any logic behind this, ie a shortening of some original...
View ArticleRe: Why
In the midwest U.S., people don't pronounce it as "why". There is no "h" sound. It is though they are just saying the letter "Y" only. Is that strictly regional or do other areas pronounce it that way?
View ArticleRe: Why
Somehow it seems to serve the same purpose --emphasis, more or less-- as the British "what?" at the END of a sentence. Might there be some kinde cokle-ass-backwards assocation between the two...
View ArticleRe: Why
Chambers cites it from 1519 as such.I can remember moving to Northern Ohio in 1971. I grew up from 1944-1966 in the Washington DC area. Lived 1966-1971 in Durham, NC.I never remember hearing a person...
View ArticleRe: Why
OK, sam, I don't buy it. You mean to tell me that in those fairly large cities of yours, you never heard "Why you little...!" (a mainstay of vaudeville, if nothing else) until 1971 ?!?!?!. Or "Why, ah...
View ArticleRe: Why
> Look, even the UBs here recognize it! In fact, Shakespeare and Dickens used it, in addition to the already-mentioned Homer (Simpson, that is). A narrow regionalism this isn't.
View ArticleRe: Why
I guess I should have been more specific or clear.Yes, of course, I heard it in old movies, and I heard it from people in everyday conversation. But only in the sense of, say, WC Fields becoming upset...
View ArticleRe: Why
>In the midwest U.S., people don't pronounce it as "why". There is no "h" sound. It is though they are just saying the letter "Y" only. Is that strictly regional or do other areas pronounce it that...
View ArticleRe: Why
I'm a Bostonian who has lived in about 8 diff parts of the country -- NONE of them the South or the Midwest -- and I have **never** heard the H "pronounced". Why=Y. Whales=Wales=wails. Whoa=woe.They...
View ArticleRe: Why
>I have **never** heard the H "pronounced".Maybe somebody needs to get out more. Something like 10-15% of the general population makes the distinction today; it was considerably more 30 years...
View ArticleRe: Why
I know Scots who distinguish between w/wh words but no one else. I do occasionally but that's probably due to four years living in Edinburgh. It did take me a moment though to work out what Eyehawk...
View ArticleRe: Why
Here is something cute:www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Whon/Whon.htmA place in Texas is named "Whon" ... named after a presumably illiterate local man named Juan, apparently. Whoever named the place heard...
View ArticleRe: Why
I was only referring to the way "why" which Aldiboranti was discussing is pronounced around here. When most folks from my area use it in a question ("Why is that?") they sound the "h". The "Why" at...
View Article
