In Connecticut, some years ago, there was a politician named K. N. Bill whose given-names were Kansas Nebraska , and he had a sister baptized Missouri Compromise . . . . Thornton reprints a paragraph from the Congressional Globe of June 15, 1854, alleging that in 1846, during the row over the Oregon boundary, when “Fifty-four forty or fight” was a political slogan, many “canal boats, and even some of the babies . . . were christened 54° 40′ .”Shades of William Faulkner’s Snopes names: Admiral Dewey Snopes, Colonel Sartoris Snopes, Montgomery Ward Snopes, Saint Elmo Snopes, and (my favorite) Wallstreet Panic Snopes.
H. L. Mencken, The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States , 4th ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1936).
Also from The American Language
The American a : The American v. the Englishman : Anglic : “Are you a speed-cop?” : Benjamin Franklin and spelling : B.V.D. : English American English : Franco-American : “[N]o faculty so weak as the English faculty” : On professor : Playing policy : “There are words enough already” : The -thon , dancing and walking Through -thing and -thin’ : The verb to contact
comments: 14
I'm so happy to read this. When I was watching The Sopranos, I wondered about truncating the words, and I actually looked into it, by which I mean I asked some young Italian-Americans about it, and all they could tell me was, yea, that's how their grandparents talked. It has some echoes/resonance for me since I was born/lived for a time in South Jersey.
I remember noticing when young how different the pronunciation of say, mozzarella, was from its spelling. Well, it was a foreign language, and what did I know? :)
Oops: for anyone puzzled, see this post.
re: "54/40 or Fight" -- was delighted to hear this made into a punkish anthem by the legendary Portland band, Dead Moon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh2sbi1cBnc
Guitarist Fred Cole's first band was in 1967. He and bassist Toody are still at it -- 66 years old, married for 48 years. I saw Dead Moon a lot in the 90s; about as pure a rock band as you could imagine, and definitely a band you had to see live. Something like the musical equivalent of straight, cheap bourbon. Scorching strong, and typically left you with a headache. (Ah, misspent youth!)
What a performance! I found the lyrics here.
One of the things I love about doing this kind of writing is that I get to learn about all kinds of things I knew nothing about. Like this band and song. Thank you, Marzek. (I bet my friend Stefan Hagemann knows about Dead Moon.)
By the way, I like Evan Williams (the poor man’s Jack Daniels). Have you read Walker Percy’s essay “Bourbon”?
Did you ever read the novel -St. Elmo-? Very old Gothic novel..... My sister and I read it, having found it on our Granny's bookshelves. (We lived too far from the library, and there was no second car even had we been old enough to drive, so we had to read what was at hand.) The list includes -Lavender and Old Lace- and -Eight Cousins- plus all of Dickens.
I did not know about Dead Moon, but I'm glad I do now, and I guess Michael speaks for all of us when it comes to the joy of learning new things at Orange Crate Art. Thanks, Marzek.
Oh, and I should add this: a couple of years ago a friend of mine wrote a Civil War-ear novel in which a Sarty Snopes-like character was named Popular Sovereignty. Pops, for short.
St. Elmo ? No. Wikipedia says it sold a million copies in four months.
Pops! That’s inspired.
Glad you guys liked Dead Moon. That makes me happy; their shows generally had a feeling of fun and good will, wch wasn't the usual in the grungey rock world.
& thanks for the Percy essay -- I remember reading Love in the Ruins during my college years & promptly going out for a bottle of Early Times. Around that time, a housemate and I bought a different bourbon each payday (this was before the single-batch boom; Ezra Brooks was about as fancy as it got -- it had a cork stopper). Echo Spring was our standard -- nothing fancy, but we liked the round bottle & embossed label. Colorful, like a cigar box label. Cheers!
Echo Spring — I’ve neither seen it nor heard of it (except now online). It is a beautiful label.
I like Early Times, but it’s difficult to find in these parts except in a plastic (mouthwash-like) bottle. I can’t go there. I recently bought a bottle of Dewar’s after noticing how glorious its label is. Two ounces and some water — that’s my limit.
Plastic is just plain wrong. Esp. for a solvent. I recall the aforementioned housemate coming home, taking a pint of Jim Beam out of his bag, and rapping it with his knuckles. No chiming glass sound; more of a dull thunk. PLASTIC! When the bottle was empty, he decanted some brown-hued shampoo into it, wch caused an amusing double-take in the bathroom.
I can’t think of a better way to cheapen a beverage. “Won’t break if dropped!”
My grandmother's middle name was 'Montanna'. I found her calling cards from the 1930's in a box in storage...
Thanks for adding her name here, Charles.
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