I'm a little tepid as regarding Bill Bryson's travel books but I'm a big fan when he gets onto the subject of language. Whereas in Mother Tongue he looked at the roots and development of English in England, here he concentrates on the American variety with its native American borrowings, archaic survivals and the regional influences of early settlers. One correction though, 'slobberchops'* may have died out in America but not yet in our house!
*Editor's Note: For those of you unfamiliar with the word 'slobberchops', here is the definition from the website www.urbandictionary.com
An old British word, still used in some areas, esp. Ireland: 1) One who dribbles 2) A messy eater 3) A lecherous man. The example they give suited to all three is 'Grandad is a right slobberchops'.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 34 April 2006 ) |
