colonel@sunybcs.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (01/22/86)
[January is Eat More Wombats Month] >> Eh? There are patches on the map where "rowt" is entrenched, but the >> standard in the U.S. is still "root." > > Are you implying that Illinois is a "patch"? You overestimate the > standardness of "root." No, Illinois is more of a bug. They haven't released a patch for it yet. __ My Webster's Collegiate 5 (1948) says: "\(rh _Root_ is now the generally accepted form, but in special cases _rout_ (_ou_ as in _out_) prevails, as in military use, among railroad men, and, colloq., of a delivery route." -- Col. G. L. Sicherman UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel CS: colonel@buffalo-cs BI: csdsicher@sunyabva
peirce@lll-crg.ARpA (Michael Peirce) (01/26/86)
Back home (in NW Ohio) I heard it both ways, but the out version seemed to be used more for highways and such: mostly State Route (out) 15, almost always Rural Route (out) 5, mostly Paper Route (out). Then there was the difference between Root (Rooot) & Root (Rut). The folks would always correct us if we slipped into Rut. But other people used it. (BTW: as in plant roots).
tom@puff.wisc.edu (Thomas Scott Christiansen) (01/27/86)
> Then there was the difference between Root (Rooot) & Root (Rut). The folks > would always correct us if we slipped into Rut. But other people used it. > (BTW: as in plant roots). I have a friend from Atlanta who corrects me every time I pronounce "root" and "roof" with the vowel from "book" rather that "tooth". He says that I pronounce it the way hillbillies do, and that educated people know better. If I listen to people from my home town (southeastern Wisconsin) they all speak as I do. In fact, the "tooth" sound strikes me as a bit pretentious, as though the speaker were trying to sound overly educated. Are we all hillbillies up here or has my Southern friend just decided his way is the only right way in spite of evidence to the contrary? Over what geographical areas does one pronunciation or the other hold sway? How about radio and tv announcers: what do they get taught to say? thanks, --tom
michaelm@3comvax.UUCP (Michael McNeil) (02/12/86)
In article <593@puff.UUCP> tom@puff.wisc.edu (Thomas Scott Christiansen) writes: >> Then there was the difference between Root (Rooot) & Root (Rut). The >> folks would always correct us if we slipped into Rut. But other people >> used it. (BTW: as in plant roots). > I have a friend from Atlanta who corrects me every time I pronounce > "root" and "roof" with the vowel from "book" rather that "tooth". > He says that I pronounce it the way hillbillies do, and that educated > people know better. If I listen to people from my home town (southeastern > Wisconsin) they all speak as I do. In fact, the "tooth" sound strikes > me as a bit pretentious, as though the speaker were trying to sound > overly educated. Are we all hillbillies up here or has my Southern > friend just decided his way is the only right way in spite of evidence > to the contrary? Over what geographical areas does one pronunciation > or the other hold sway? How about radio and tv announcers: what do they > get taught to say? Growing up in Montana, I always pronounced "root" and "roof" as in "look." It wasn't until I moved to California that I heard the "loose" pronunciation of these words. If this is hillbilly, so be it. (No Montanan need apologize for the land he lives in!) -- Michael McNeil 3Com Corporation "All disclaimers including this one apply" (415) 960-9367 ..!ucbvax!hplabs!oliveb!3comvax!michaelm "I see nobody on the road," said Alice. "I only wish *I* had such eyes," the King remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, it's as much as *I* can do to see real people, by this light!" Lewis Carroll, *Through the Looking Glass*