The Dictionary of American Regional English
The final volume of The Dictionary of American Regional English is about to be completed.
The dictionary chronicles words and phrases used in distinct regions. Maps show where a submarine sandwich might be called a hero or grinder, or where a potluck — as in a potluck dinner or supper — might be called a pitch-in (Indiana) or a scramble (northern Illinois).
The concept dates to 1889, when the American Dialect Society was formed. But the project did not start in earnest until 1965, when English professor Frederic Cassidy dispatched workers to 1,000 carefully chosen U.S. communities to interview residents and make audio recordings of their speech.
Workers often slept in “word wagons” — vans emblazoned with the UW logo — and even were chased out of a few Southern towns. The field work alone took five years and collected 2.5 million different words and phrases.
Cassidy died in 2000, still looking toward publication of the final volume. His tombstone reads: “On to Z!”
Hall said her all-time favorite word is bobbasheely, used in Gulf Coast states as a noun meaning a good friend or a verb to hang around with a friend. It comes from the language of the Choctaw tribes.
Forensic linguist Roger Shuy said he occasionally referred to the dictionary when he studied the Unabomber’s writings in the 1990s for clues to the writer’s identity. His profile didn’t help catch Ted Kaczynski, but it turned out to be pretty accurate: He guessed the Unabomber had a doctorate, grew up near Chicago and was older than some investigators initially believed.
Hall also was sought for help by reporters who didn’t understand President Bill Clinton’s comment in 1993 that an Air Force official who had criticized him “doesn’t know me from Adam’s off ox.”
Hall said the phrase is used west of the Appalachians in place of the more popular “he doesn’t know me from Adam.” The “off ox” refers to one of the two oxen once used to plow fields.
Spud the Spineless Hedgehog
Spud was found wandering in a garden and taken to Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Aylesbury, Bucks, last August. Experts are baffled by his condition, which has caused his skin to dry and his spines to fall out. The hospital is asking practitioners of alternative medicine to suggest possible remedies.
(via marginal revolution)
Anomalous Satellite
cwalken twitter about to explode
Sylvia Plath’s son commits suicide
He was a professor of fisheries and ocean science at University of Alaska. Tragedy seems to have haunted the family.
P.S. Hello, Mika.
Mr. Dutu
An odd conversation with an internet Phishing scammer.
The second conversation is nearly an hour long and, frankly, the scammer is brilliant. (via Waxy)
Boot any Linux distro from a USB drive
It took me nearly an hour of wading through terrible, ad-ridden tutorials, but I found eventually found a simple, idiot-proof solution:
UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for a variety of Linux distributions from Windows or Linux, without requiring you to burn a CD. You can either let it download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you’ve already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn’t on the list.
It’s an essential bookmark for the folks who sport the nerd bling.
Fuck My Life
I’ve been really enjoying Fuck My Life. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s a twitter site where people from all walks of life send in short anecdotes about how their life sucks. It’s a bit of Schadenfreude, but it’s something that will make you feel better or make you smile, no matter what happened in your day. I’ve had similar comments from friends who read it as well.
Will you utterly
hate me if I find myself quite enjoying NBC’s Kings?
Cliches I particularly hate
“Getting all one’s ducks in a row”
“It’s got all the bells and whistles”
test
test
Opossum Openis (For Brandon Hobson)
Something like this, I’m thinking. Bifurcated.
Jeff Brouws – Fresno, California 1993
Much of what drives me to want to photograph the States can be found in the work of Jeff Brouws.
Candy Darling on Her Deathbed | Peter Hujar (Another)
Candy Darling on Her Deathbed. Peter Hujar. 1974.
“Peter Hujar knows that portraits in life are always, also, portraits in death.” (Susan Sontag)
(See also: Stephen Koch’s A Photographer’s Childhood.)
Hey Paul Krugman!
Your country needs you now.
(via hilzoy)
Rachael Dunville, The Brad
William Eggleston, from Los Alamos
Garry Winogrand, Los Angeles, 1969
Bowie’s in Space
I simply cannot get enough of this.
Bruce Davidson
The work of Bruce Davidson, and in particular this photo from his Brooklyn Gang (1959) series, encouraged me to step closer and to not be frightened to point a camera at people.
Playlist: AM
A playlist from Scout Minami
- Mia Doi Todd – My Room Is White (Dungen Remix)
- Van Dyke Parks – The All Golden
- Tristeza – Golden Hill
- Benjamin Schoos Alias Miam Monster Miam – 69 Love Songs
- Jeanette – Por qué Te Vas
- Marianne Faithfull – Come My Way
- Gonzales – Salon Salloon
- Peter And The Wolf – The Apple Tree
- Quiet Village – Victoria’s Secret
- Women – Group Transport Hall
- Josephine Foster – The Golden Wooden Tone
- Zooey – Father To A Sister of Thought (Pavement cover)
- Theresa Andersson – Hi-Low
- The Velvet Underground – Train Round the Bend
Stream This Playlist
Dreaming | Mark PoKempner (Another Favorite Photograph)
Dreaming. Marc PoKempner. 1974.
Included in Down at Theresa’s . . . Chicago Blues.
(See also: Theresa’s Lounge at The Chicago Bar Project.)
David Carson, Blue
While not strictly a photograph, this David Carson cover always knocks me out.
Dapper Shopper
I just discovered Copenhagen Cycle Chic and I’m loving it.
Walker Evans, “Houses and Billboards, Atlanta 1936″
Evan’s multi-layered image of the South. I love Lombard’s blackened eye.
