A View from Across the Big Pond

[Diane Merkel]

The comments about the article are almost as interesting as the article itself. Here's a short excerpt from the article:

“Sioux” is a white man’s term, the mangled last syllable of Nadoweisiweg — a tribal nickname — seized upon by some cloth-eared settler. Wilmer Mesteth, a spiritual leader from the Pine Ridge Reservation, and his kin belong, more accurately, to the Lakota Nation. His song recalls a victorious interlude in the doomed defence of tribal lands and “life ways”: the routing of Custer’s 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Article: www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/northamerica/usa/1586235/Native-America-dark-deeds-in-the-Black-Hills.html

[BrokenSword]

Who is 'Custor'?

M

[cefil]

Apr 25, 2008 5:21:37 GMT -6 BrokenSword said:

Who is 'Custor'?

M

Perhaps that's the British spelling? You know, a deft manoeuvre to throw up a line of defence against too many Americanisms...a way to add some local colour to a favourite topic. (I wonder if the Encyclopaedia Britannica spells it this way?)

To our friends across the pond: Please don't take offence...This is only meant to analyse, not criticise.

cefil

[BrokenSword]

cefil (of all people), you may have it, but wouldn't it have been spelled 'Custour'?

I remain confident that with our continued help (delivered with kindness, love and gentle guidance) our 'Friends across the Pond' may yet learn English, good and proper.

M (He who spots all typos, except his own)

["Hunk" Papa]

Apr 25, 2008 6:50:26 GMT -6 cefil said:

Apr 25, 2008 5:21:37 GMT -6 BrokenSword said:

Who is 'Custor'?

M

Perhaps that's the British spelling? You know, a deft manoeuvre to throw up a line of defence against too many Americanisms...a way to add some local colour to a favourite topic. (I wonder if the Encyclopaedia Britannica spells it this way?)

To our friends across the pond: Please don't take offence...This is only meant to analyse, not criticise.

cefil

Now then you colonial ingrates, we generously give you a big land to play in, let you mangle our language and foist upon the world Big Macs, but that isn't enough.

No, you have to try and blame us for the failings of French pronunciation. They mangled 'Custer' into 'Custor' in their usual throaty attempts to enunciate in English, just as they mangled the Ojibwa term Nadowe-is-iw (lesser adders) into Nadoussioux then dropped the first part of that spelling. So please level your analysis at their errant country, not at the Mother Country that made you what you are today - escapees from a tea party (Mad Hatter springs to mind)

Indignant of Leamington Spa

[elisabeth]

Typos aside (and sadly the online Telegraph does suffer from them occasionally) ... it's interesting to note how often contemporary newspapers spell him as "Custar". Just wondering whether that could be how he pronounced his own name, which the reporters then dutifully transcribed. Maybe someone familiar with Ohio or Michigan accents could give us a clue?

[punkprincess]

Was it John Gibbon who wrote something to the effect that "All the glory there is in Indian-fighting is being shot by an Indian hiding behind a rock, and having your name spelled wrong in the newspapers?"

[cefil]

Interesting question, Elisabeth...I can't speak to 19th Century linguistic quirks, but I spent 3 years in Ohio and 7 in Michigan and didn't detect any such accent in their modern speech.

Perhaps Eric (or is it Aric?), who has much more experience with Ohio speech (and is an expert in 19th Century life) can shed some light?

cefil

[Diane Merkel]

I spent four years in Ohio. The only accent I remember is a very nasal accent from Toledo, which made me climb the walls every time the girl in the next dorm room asked, "Do you want some pop?" I have never heard as irritating a word as pop and, no thanks, I'll have a soft drink.

[BrokenSword]

Sir Stuck in the Isles Without an Oar - "...Now then you colonial ingrates, we generously... let you mangle our language ..."

Hear, hear - some of us try.

seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2004367117_danny23.html

So, can you explain this?

["Hunk" Papa]

BS,

That's an easy one. My enquiries reveal that the Avon & Somerset Constabulary employ an American PR firm to design their signs.

H

[BrokenSword]

Diane- "...I have never heard as irritating a word as pop and, no thanks, I'll have a soft drink..."

Here in Atlanta we just call it a Coke. Outside the city's limits you hear some people say 'sodee or soda pop', but it's well understood that that means Coke as well.

I once heard of a tourist that asked for an RC Cola. The unsmiling waitress gave a slight nod to a couple of men in dark suits and who wore sunglasses, that were waiting nearby. The tourist was whisked out and put on a black helicopter. No one has seen him sense. The names of his family members were written down by the Coke cops and they have been kept under surveillance ever since.

You guys think the Custer vs. Reno/Benteen people get rough with each other? HA. You just don't know how serious some things can really be.

M

[BrokenSword]

Ah Hunk-

I thought you (of all people) would do MUCH beter than that.

M

[Diane Merkel]

That Atlanta syrup made more than a few people very rich. There's a town outside of Tallahassee that is full of beautiful old mansions. As the story goes, about a century ago, the local druggist talked his friends into buying stock in a little company called Coca-Cola. I don't know that to be true, but it's a well-known story in these parts.

There's probably more to that Men in Black story than we realize. I know it was posted as a joke, but when was the last time anyone asked for an RC?

[BrokenSword]

Diane - "...that Men in Black story ... I know it was posted as a joke..."

Joke? Coke Cops? Boy, I could tell you stories, but ... they're probably listening... I can say no more.

Signed,
A Nono Mus Tipster