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Author Topic: Survey on American Jewish Language  (Read 5317 times)

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Online Jonathon

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Survey on American Jewish Language
« on: July 19, 2008, 08:35:45 AM »
link

They want both Jews and non-Jews to take it. I figured some people here might be interested in taking it.
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Offline Porter

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« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2008, 09:05:11 AM »
Quote
They want both Jews and non-Jews to take it.
What about the rest of us? ;)
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Online Jonathon

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Survey on American Jewish Language
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2008, 09:09:20 AM »
You can take it too, Porter. :P  
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Offline The Genuine

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« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2008, 11:34:06 AM »
Did anyone provide their email address to be notified when the results are in?  (I didn't.)

If you did, please post them!
I think Jesse's right.

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Offline Tante Shvester

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Survey on American Jewish Language
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2008, 08:26:40 PM »
I gave them my email address.


They didn't list among the choices of what you call your mother, what my kid calls me.

I'm "Ma".  And I call my Ma "Ma".  Is this uncommon?
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline The Genuine

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« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2008, 08:30:06 PM »
I'm a Ma man too.  I chose Mom since Ma wasn't an option.

But I say Dad, not Da.
I think Jesse's right.

 -- Jonathon

Offline rivka

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« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2008, 11:15:12 PM »
Quote
And I call my Ma "Ma".  Is this uncommon?
Nope.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline rivka

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« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2008, 11:27:19 PM »
Quote
Q: Why didn’t you ask about shlep, tshatshke, goyim, shiksa, putz, shmuck, shtup, shmegege, lox, blintzes, etc.?
A: We didn’t think everyone would want to spend 2 hours taking a survey…
:lol:

You know, I'm not sure, but I think I might have met one of the two researchers. She is a teacher at a couple of SoCal universities, and not only does her name ring a bell, she looks vaguely familiar.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2008, 12:24:03 PM by rivka »
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Offline Porter

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« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2008, 07:10:47 AM »
Quote
Quote
And I call my Ma "Ma".  Is this uncommon?
Nope.
My initial reaction was "Yes, unless you live on the prairie, preferable in a small house."
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Sooner or later, this forum is going to max out on hyperliteralness.

Offline Tante Shvester

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Survey on American Jewish Language
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2008, 11:19:59 AM »
Porter, what do you call your ma?
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline Porter

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« Reply #10 on: July 20, 2008, 01:16:55 PM »
Usually "Mom" and sometimes "Mother".
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Offline Annie Subjunctive

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« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2008, 07:31:40 PM »
I think "Ma" is closer to "Mama" than to "Mom."

I've never called my parents Mom/Mommy or Dad/Daddy, except when I was around friends and was too embarrassed. It's really weird to say it. They were always Mama and Papa, but I'm not sure where in the family this came from. I thought it was Southern, but the rest of my Southern family says Mama/Daddy.
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Offline rivka

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« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2009, 12:53:14 PM »
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Farmgirl

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Survey on American Jewish Language
« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2009, 01:03:44 PM »
Wow. That "SUK-kiss  vs. soo-COAT" part was amazing to me. I didn't know there were different ways of saying that.
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Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2009, 10:07:16 PM »
The results reinforce my assertion that I am not peppering my language with foreign words, but rather with New York regionalisms.

In formal speech and writing, I conform to standard English, but in informal speech and friendly informal writing (like here), I use a more conversational, colloquial form of English.  The New Yorkish Variant.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2009, 10:08:19 PM by Tante Shvester »
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline rivka

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« Reply #15 on: November 05, 2009, 10:21:16 PM »
Quote
I am not peppering my language with foreign words, but rather with New York regionalisms.
Why are you so sure there's a difference? ;)
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #16 on: November 05, 2009, 10:24:03 PM »
'Cause I don't hold by that.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline rivka

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« Reply #17 on: November 05, 2009, 10:37:24 PM »
:rolleyes:  
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #18 on: November 05, 2009, 10:39:12 PM »
I was surprised to learn that “Are you coming to us for dinner?” isn't standard.  The rest of the country really says “Are you coming to our place for dinner?”  I had no idea.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline rivka

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« Reply #19 on: November 05, 2009, 10:54:43 PM »
Actually, I'm with you on that one.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #20 on: November 05, 2009, 11:35:56 PM »
+1 list

or, as some of us put it,

Shvester!
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Online Jonathon

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« Reply #21 on: November 06, 2009, 09:29:11 AM »
I would probably say, "Are you coming over for dinner?" "Coming to us" definitely sounds strange to me.
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Offline Porter

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« Reply #22 on: November 06, 2009, 09:31:54 AM »
Same here.  "Coming to us" means "coming towards us" to me.
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Offline rivka

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« Reply #23 on: November 06, 2009, 10:58:09 AM »
Huh.

Irrationally, I want to encourage the spread of this one, and wipe "by us" off the face of the planet. ;)
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
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Offline Tante Shvester

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« Reply #24 on: November 06, 2009, 11:46:20 AM »
By me, either sounds fine.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous