When he lived in Nova Scotia, Jeffrey from Montreal, Canada, noted that the word some was often used as an intensifier, as in That’s some good or She’s some pretty or She’s right some pretty. Also common in the dialects of Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland is the pulmonic ingressive, a sharp intake of air to indicate agreement or approval. This linguistic feature is heard in many parts of the world, including Maine. With reference to Mainers, it’s usually represented in writing as Ayup! Two helpful references: Sandra Clarke’s Newfoundland and Labrador English (Bookshop|Amazon) and From Clerks to Corpora (Bookshop|Amazon), a collection of essays on linguistics. This is part of a complete episode.
After an international team of scientists and staffers spent six months at a research station in Antarctica, their accents changed ever so slightly, according to an acoustic analysis by German researchers. The slang terms they shared include dingle...
Is the booty as in shake your booty related to a pirate’s booty? The booty that means “derriere” is an alteration of botty, which is itself an alteration of bottom. The booty that means “loot” or “plunder”...
Subscribe to the fantastic A Way with Words newsletter! Martha and Grant send occasional messages with language headlines, event announcements, linguistic tidbits, and episode reminders. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what’s happening with the show.
