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Subject:Re: Another Homophone From:Doug Montalbano <D=Montalbano%GMP%Chiron -at- LARRY -dot- CHIRON -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 31 Jan 1994 13:17:12 PST
LaVonna lffunkhouser -at- halnet -dot- com posts:
If you ask various persons what they call a common
piece of furniture used in bedrooms and having several
drawers, you might get several responses. One response
in my area of the country is "Chester drawers" ...
This reminds me of a trick used by sociolinguists. Many people attach
various levels of status to different kinds of pronunciation (people will
mock someone with a "southern accent" talking about nuclear fission, but not
a Bostonian). In order to uncover people's native accents, sociolinguists
put a strain on the (unwitting) subject's pronunciation. One famous example
is asking a first-floor department store employee where the furniture
department (or other fourth-floor dept.) is. The employee will of course
answer "Fourth floor." The researcher will ask again. "Fourth floor." The
researcher will pretend not to hear. Finally, the exasperated employee will
shout "Fawth flaw!"
