Can anyone educate me on when and why people started using the word "witch" instead of "with"? e.g.,"I'll be witch you in a moment". "She's witch me".
When did witch become a sub for with?
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nudeyorker
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You can ax the question but I think it's just as simple as learning incorrectly or poor edumacation.
MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK
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When did the Great Vowel shift - Great Vowel Shift - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia happen? Between 1450 and 1750.
When did it become common for Americans to say complex instead of complicated when the two words originally had completely different meanings (and still do in British English despite many British English speakers picking up the habit of saying complex when they mean complicated because of the influence of US culture)?
Languages change, the Saxons would probably be disgusted with what we have done to Old English. Time, culture, almost anything produces changes in common usage which ultimately change a language. Its just part of language evolution.
When did it become common for Americans to say complex instead of complicated when the two words originally had completely different meanings (and still do in British English despite many British English speakers picking up the habit of saying complex when they mean complicated because of the influence of US culture)?
Languages change, the Saxons would probably be disgusted with what we have done to Old English. Time, culture, almost anything produces changes in common usage which ultimately change a language. Its just part of language evolution.
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The Dragon
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The first one is a regional US variant, isn't it? Italians in the Bronx?
Aren't they actually saying "I'll be wit'you" and the "t'y" becomes a "tchy"?
Then if they perceived it as "witchyou" -> "witch you" they would transfer it to "witch me", but I've never heard that.
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MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK
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JustAsking
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I think Snozzle has it right. This is not a new phenomenon. I grew up on the coast of CT, amongsts lots of Italians who radiated up from NYC. I believe that in Italian and few other European languages, there is no "th" sound. So a name like Mathius would be pronounced like Mattius.
German and Dutch are the same in that regard. Much of the Brooklyn accent full of 'dese' and 'dose' and 'toity-toid street' are holdovers from when NYC was a Dutch colony.
When De Niro says, "I hoid tings", it might actually be more Dutch influence than Italian.
When Italians came in on the waves of Calabrian emmigrations they readily adapted to these sounds and added their own twist.
Other than that, "I got 'stugots".
B_VinylBoy
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Oy vey, who let Christine O'Donnell near a computer at the offices of Merriam-Webster?!
On a somewhat related note, the hubby and I saw a new ad on television... and I swear, this is what the announcer said - "If you suffered death, heart attack or stroke due to taking Avandia call this number now!"
Damn, why did my parents waste time sending me to school? :biggrin1:
MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK
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In NJ, especially the Passaic and lower counties, the need for diction and conjoining two windows can really fluctuate.
D_Miranda_Wrights
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That's a new one I haven't heard here in the PNW. Our Italians are pretty Americanized and our Dutch are Calvinists who mostly keep to a few farmtowns. If anything, this seems more like an Hispanic stereotype to me.
In any case I think I'd prefer to imagine they're saying "I'll bewitch you in a moment." That takes it from trashy service to kind of whimsical.
In any case I think I'd prefer to imagine they're saying "I'll bewitch you in a moment." That takes it from trashy service to kind of whimsical.
Bbucko
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One of the regionalisms in my voice most difficult for people in Florida to understand is that I use the same vowel sound for boom and room as I do in cook. There's a bar down here called Boom!, and when I refer to it, no one knows what the hell I'm saying :tongue:
There's more to a Boston accent than dropping an "r".
There's more to a Boston accent than dropping an "r".
MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK
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Alot of people around here have tried to separate it, yo know like, "I'll be right wit ya", but, usually it's wound as, "Witcha"
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JustAsking
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Haha, no. Its an expression you might hear in North Jersey from an Italian guy. It's bastardized Italian from the original stu cazzo, or u' cazzu or in some regions 'esto cozzo'.
In Neopolitano, it is shortened to 'stu cats'. And like many words, the hard 'c' sound moves to a kind of 'g' sound , as in when the Italian world compare (koompaahray) becomes goomba, or capicola becomes gabagoo.
Roughly translated it means either testicles or balls in Italian, but the 'stugots' variant is used to refer to incredulity or the notion of nothing, such as in American English when we say, "You think you got connections? You don't got dick."
Such as,
"Are you going downtown or what?"
"Who me? Stugots!"
Or
"Hey, do you have that five you owe me?"
"No, I got stugots."
(I think in the UK, the equivalent usage would be the word 'bollocks'.)
And best of all, the name of Tony Soprano's boat was "The Stugots".
Sorry, I was a big Sopranos fan. I thought the reference was a good fit for LPSG.
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