Hebonics

Diane, Move to a place with air. Then we'll talk.

Love it, Roberta!

And for this seven pages I read? Always assumed that the verb at the end was from the Germanic roots of Yiddish.

(sidebar) Growing up in the suburbs of NYC, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing, during formative cerebral development years, not one, but two forms of Hebonics. First were the parents who often visited, but lived in either the Bronx or Queens. The second was the more subtle form of Hebonics of their children - the next generation, who could, and did with rapid regularity, switch hit between old parental Hebonics, their own modified version of Hebonics, and when the situation called for it: standard WASP English. A real pleasure, I gotta tell you.......

So you're blowing up balloons, Roberta? At 5000', air we've got.

I had the pleasure of hearing my mother telling my uncle (her younger brother) to sit up straight on the night we celebrated his 80th birthday.

Not Hebonics, per se, except, perhaps, in some Zen way...

This thread has been great fun.

Who knew such things existed? Not in my part of the world! I always thought people were making it up

Diane - and you've added another dimension - over there with your boring mountains

I loved the waves roll in, the waves roll out, of Roberta's mother!

Hiya Sumac, I can talk like this--or not. Friends have informed me that, when we're on our way to the Bronx Zoo, the deeper into the Bronx we get, the deeper my NY accent gets. And I sound more and more Jewish. Back to my roots.

Hey, Roger, You're having a party? What's with the balloons? I've been to Denver. I couldn't breathe. There's not enough air up there. I like sea level. Plenty of air. And, of course, there's the sea.

D'art, Absolutely. A state of mind as much as a linguistic proclivity.

Margo, Glad to see you here. Making it up? You can't make this stuff up. So you liked my mother's comments about the boring ocean? Well, as she once told me, she has her point of view, and I don't have mine.

Ah, yes, the Bronx. My parents' home turf (they attended Evander Childs H.S.) and the place my grandmother lived. She, who was wont to say when my little sister picked at her food:

"She eats like a bird, that one..."

Boidy, my mother was from Texas. When traveling, the closer to Texas she got, the thicker the southern accent. Going back to roots, indeed.

D'art, Evander Childs? A formidable basketball rival of my school--Taft. And then there was Clinton. Always a problem.

Diane, So your mother had and I have adjustable accents. My mother sounds the same no matter where she is. Lower Manhattan. Same with my father. He always sounded the same. You've heard me talk. I have an accent, but I don't have an ACCENT.

Hiya Boidy!

So this is where you hang out! Too funny this thread is -- I had to read it slowly to hear the inflections over my own sidesplitting! How did Diane get so good at this talk already? Well I'm entitled to my opinion, and yours too!

Jeanne deSeattle

Hiya Jeanne, I should know how Diane learned Hebonics? What am I? A mindreader? Good to see you here, btw.

Well, look who's here, already. 'Bout time you showed up, Jeanne.

Cildren, roger? CHILDREN??!! I should know from children!

Eh, Seattlefriend, some friend! How long is it you don't write? You don't call? A cholera you think we have?

Oy, dlowan, a dagger through your mother's heart that you do not know from children....your avatar, it knows from children....although I say feh on the smoking, those rabbits with their 'disposition', and all the offspring, maybe this is why for the filthy habit.

Oy, Jeanne, a shiksa you think I am? Well, yeah, I am...but just spend some time in New York and espcially with Raboida listening to her stories and you, too, will develop a nice little accent to go with your lox and bagels.

Boidy, I still have a file of your family stories. Maybe a2k would be a good place to share them. Who wouldn't want to hear about Milton the turtle and the gender confused parrot, all living on the Concourse.

Maybe an anthology of sorts with others' contributions as well....."Tales from the Bronx"?

Oh this is soooo enlightening -- Raboida may be a mindreader, dlowan is my Jewish mother (alright already dlowan, I have to suffer a guilt trip if I don't write or call?)
and merryandrew is the proper Bostonian, no . . . that doesn't seem right. It's in Boston proper he lives.

My darling daughter will be playing in a concert in Boston proper next weekend. She will be leading her section in some amazing Stravinsky piece (as principal violist).

It's very likely that I'll be travelling to Boston sometime this year since the daughter is living there in Allston and attending grad school in viola performance at the NEC. She loves her school and her teacher. If I plan it right, maybe I could meet some of you easterners. I would like that!

Jeanne

So, she couldn't do her fiddling around in Farmington maybe? What are we - chopped liver?

I can't do the Hebonics - but...Seattlefriend, great to see you!