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regional dialectics
A while back I came across a pointer to the Harvard Dialect Survey (preliminary results and maps are at http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/maps.php) which is, I think, really cool. I mean, some people say "kitty-corner" and some people say "catty-corner" and some people say "kitty wampus" and isn't that just nifty? Well, I think so.
Backpacking this weekend with another couple. Hiking up a steep hill. I say to Britt and Kristen, "at that slippery spot back there I almost fell ass over teakettle."
They say, "Huh?"
Turns out they've never heard that expression. "Ass over end" is what both of them would say. They think I made it up, until Rolf caught up with us, and I say to him: "Complete this phrase: I almost fell ass over --?"
"Teakettle!" he calls out.
I felt vindicated. Turns out Britt and Kristen were both raised in the West (Colorado and North Dakota, respectively) and Rolf and I in the East (New Hampshire and Maryland, respectively). So that's something else for the dialect map.
What does your ass fall over?
Backpacking this weekend with another couple. Hiking up a steep hill. I say to Britt and Kristen, "at that slippery spot back there I almost fell ass over teakettle."
They say, "Huh?"
Turns out they've never heard that expression. "Ass over end" is what both of them would say. They think I made it up, until Rolf caught up with us, and I say to him: "Complete this phrase: I almost fell ass over --?"
"Teakettle!" he calls out.
I felt vindicated. Turns out Britt and Kristen were both raised in the West (Colorado and North Dakota, respectively) and Rolf and I in the East (New Hampshire and Maryland, respectively). So that's something else for the dialect map.
What does your ass fall over?