Wordie alert
If a foodie is someone who advocates fabulous foods made from wholesome, high quality or back-to-the-land ingredients (as in the Wisconsin Public TV show “Wisconsin Foodie”), would a wordie be someone fascinated by words? Or would that just be a word geek?
Whatever your favorite way to describe that strange attraction to words and all their myriad forms, meanings and origins, if you’re one of these people, you may be interested in the following.
I now turn over control of this blog to the press-release writing conglomerate known as University Communications at UW-Madison (Capital letters from the original).:
AN EVENING WITH EDITOR OF THE DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN REGIONAL ENGLISH
MADISON - The English language used in the United States is wonderfully varied, reflecting our geographic, historic and ethnic diversity.
For example: Do you know what a "grinnie" is? A "nubbin stretcher?" How about "awendaw?"
Developed on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) preserves all these words and thousands more. Publication of DARE's fifth volume, featuring entries from Sl through Z, has stirred national media interest.
On Thursday, April 12, from 6-7:30 p.m., DARE's editor, Joan Houston Hall, discuss the huge project's beginnings, growth, and upcoming digital edition through a UW-Madison Continuing Studies lecture class. The fee is $20.
The history, contents and use of the dictionary recently were covered in The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal, ABC World News, National Public Radio and USA Today.
To read more about the 50-year-long project, click here, and then register online here for the evening session to be held at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.
By the way, a grinnie is a ground squirrel, a nubbin stretcher is a rain that comes when the corn crop is immature, and awendaw is a spoonbread generally made from hominy, as well as corn meal.
Mar 3, 2012 at 6:16 p.m.
Suggest removal
2013 for the digital edition, according to the NYT, EMMO46. (Heck, they've been working on it for half a century ... what's the rush?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/books/...
.
By the way, you forgot to precede the URL with http, so the class link got borked. This one works:
http://go.wisc.edu/13u6n2
Mar 2, 2012 at 10:07 p.m.
Suggest removal
The "upcoming digital edition"...any idea when?
Mar 2, 2012 at 9:07 p.m.
Suggest removal
Frankly, I understand your enthusiasm for language. You could never become wordophobic. Perhaps those of us who love the phrasing of modern English idioms could be called phrasophiles. Did you see Ms. Hall the other night on Channel 3? The use of words becomes even more interesting when one considers various regional dialectic differences. Language is a constant source of amusement. I hope to see more about this subject in the future.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.