ink pen

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

A typical Southernism, from the Department of Redundancy Department. (In the Deep South, "pen" has two syllables.)

October 31, 2007

trivet commented on the word ink pen

Ooooh! Don't forget lead pen (pencil), pencil colors (colored pencils), and colors (crayons/markers).

October 31, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

Thanks, trivet! You reminded me of yet another one. We never said crayon when we were growing up--it was always color crayon. If you wanted the red one, it was "red color crayon."

October 31, 2007

cathari commented on the word ink pen

Tellurian: How can "pen" have two syllables?

Me: ...in Japanese, it does?

November 1, 2007

reesetee commented on the word ink pen

I grew up in the northeast, and we always said "colors" instead of crayons.

Skipvia, you've reminded me of the time a friend of my mom's, who hailed from Mississippi, asked me for a pen. When I asked her what kind, she seemed confused. I found out why when I handed her a pin. She was highly offended. ;-)

November 1, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

Reesetee, see all for another pronunciation that confuses Northerners.

It never occurred to me until just now that maybe the reason I grew up saying "ink pen" was to distinguish it from a "pin," which, as you noted, are pronounced the same way in the South.

November 1, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

Cathari--there are many examples of one-syllable words that are stretched into two syllables in the South. Here are a few examples:

pen (PEH yun)

boy (BAW wee)

pants (PIE yants)

year (YEE ahr)

November 1, 2007

reesetee commented on the word ink pen

So "all" can be cooking all, heating all, sewing machine all, and so on? Ah, the South. :-)

November 1, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

Exactly, reesetee. It works in "all" (oil?) cases. Saves time and effort. (Of course, that's canceled out by adding extra syllables to everything...)

November 1, 2007

chained_bear commented on the word ink pen

Skipvia, don't forget "waw-ah." I had a heck of a time keeping a straight face watching Ken Burns's "The War" when they talked to Katharine Phillips, who lived in Mobile, Alabama. Every time she said "war" it came out "waw-ah"! (I'm a little embarrassed to admit, sometimes when she said it, I didn't have a clue what she was saying.)

November 1, 2007

reesetee commented on the word ink pen

Waw-ah? They have Wawas in the South? ;-)

November 1, 2007

chained_bear commented on the word ink pen

Well, it's hard to spell it the way she says it, but say "waw." Then say "a." It isn't wawa, exactly... Maybe say "wo-ah." Or "wo-wah." Yeah, that's it. "Wo-wah."

November 1, 2007

reesetee commented on the word ink pen

Boy, is my monitor laughing at me.

November 1, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

"Wo-wah" sounds right to me, c_b. Now tell me what this phrase translates to:

Ahrn wahr.

(Hint: Two words, once used by telephone installers.)

November 1, 2007

chained_bear commented on the word ink pen

That's easy, it's iron wire! Ha ha!

Though, to be honest, I might not have guessed that without your hint.

November 1, 2007

jennarenn commented on the word ink pen

Yes reestee, in the South there are Wawas in the South.

November 2, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

Right, c_b! On a job I had once at a telephone company, the foreman told us that we were going to hang some "ahrn wahr." The only thing I could think of was Anwar Sadat and that this was going to be some kind of lynching.

November 2, 2007

reesetee commented on the word ink pen

Wawas in the South? Not in the Mid-Atlantic now--the actual Deep South?

November 2, 2007

chained_bear commented on the word ink pen

I think Virginia is the deep south, though it's arguable, and we've had a Wawa here for two years or so.

I like the soft pretzels.

Edit: Virginia is culturally southern, though "Deep South" generally seems to refer to the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. I'd count Florida, but its culture, at least in the southern part, seems to have changed greatly from that of the "traditional Confederacy."

Note: I am not trying to pick any fights!

November 2, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

It's all relative, I think. If you ask someone in North Carolina what the Deep South is, they'd tell you Alabama. It reminds me of a story that my grandfather told me about yankees. If you ask someone from South Carolina what a yankee is, he'll tell you it's anyone from New England. If you ask a New Englander, he'll tell you it's someone from Vermont. If you ask someone from Vermont, he'll tell you that it's someone who eats pie for breakfast.

November 2, 2007

chained_bear commented on the word ink pen

Well, we can discuss that on the yankee page! ;)

I remember being overseas with a bunch of students from all over the U.S. Two in particular, from North Carolina, were *infuriated* every time any innocent person in our host country called us "Yanks." To them, we were all Yanks because all Americans are Yankees. To the boys from NC, being called a Yank was a terrible insult. I just kind of pointed and laughed--not being from New England *or* the South--and thought "Yank" was a great slangy way to refer to Americans.

I think many Canadians, as well, use the term interchangeably for "someone from the United States," though we were not in Canada.

November 2, 2007

reesetee commented on the word ink pen

Interesting! I recall reading an article about the inhabitants of the area around the border of PA/MD--formerly part of the Mason-Dixon line, as you know. When questioned, most of those living south of the border said that they considered themselves Southerners. Most of those living above the border (in PA)--just a few miles away from the other group--said they never thought about themselves in that way (Northern or Southern), but when pressed to categorize, they said they would consider themselves Northerners.

November 3, 2007

skipvia commented on the word ink pen

More proof that the state most of us live in is that of mind.

November 3, 2007

reesetee commented on the word ink pen

Indeed. :-)

November 3, 2007