 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004How to understand expressions in nonstandard English?
Hello, I'm reading Huckleberry Finn, and finding some of the expressions unfamiliar. Is there some resource somewhere that explains such things? I'm not referring to the "slave" dialect, but rather to some of the backwoodsy utterances such as "if he didn't quit using around there" -- and many more like this. If you care to answer, please respond to the newsgroup and not to my email. Thank you very much, Ted Shoemaker History is a book missing most of its pages. > I'm reading Huckleberry Finn, and finding some of the expressions > unfamiliar. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > If you care to answer, please respond to the newsgroup and not to my > email. I don't know a particular reference that explains all the vocabulary in Huck Finn. Maybe there's something on-line, but it doesn't turn up easily. You might look through the CliffsNotes booklet, which is easily available, for general help. I see there is also an "Annotated Huck Finn" with notes by Michael Patrick Hearn. I looked up the complete context of the example you gave. It speaks of Huck's no-good father: Every time he got money he got drunk; and every time he got drunk he raised Cain around town; and every time he raised Cain he got jailed. He was just suited - this kind of thing was right in his line. He got to hanging around the widow's too much and so she told him at last that if he didn't quit using around there she would make trouble for him. I doubt anyone in a.u.e could tell you with absolute 100% certainty what "use" means there, from prior knowledge -- but almost anyone can make a good enough guess. You don't have to stop reading, you can tell that the widow wanted the man to stop doing what he was doing and go away. I checked a few places, and in the Dictionary of American English I found that, yes, the verb "use" had the meaning "to make frequent visits" with examples from 1770-1924. DAE called this meaning "Now rare or local," and that was in 1938.  SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux > > I'm reading Huckleberry Finn, and finding some of the expressions > > unfamiliar. [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > visits" with examples from 1770-1924. DAE called this meaning "Now rare > or local," and that was in 1938. Another source to check would be _The Century Dictionary,_ a very large American dictionary of 1895, available online at www.century-dictionary.com . It contains regionalisms such as "texas" (a part of a steamboat) and the verb "shin" which appear in _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn._ In fact, the entry for "shin" cites the book: [quote] shin1 [...], _v._ ; [...] I. _intrans._ [...] 2. To go afoot ; walk : as, to _shin_ along ; to _shin_ across the field. I was up in a second and _shinning_ down the hill. _Mark Twain,_ Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, iv. [end quote] After searching for a word, choose the JPEG option. If you find this dictionary useful, download the DjVu plug-in, which contains some very useful features. SignatureRaymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com 'The word 'using' in the sense of "going to or hanging around a place a lot" is still in use with regard to waterfowl: Duck hunters will say, for example "The teal have been using around the north side of the marsh". Chris > I'm not referring to the "slave" dialect, but rather to some of the > backwoodsy utterances such as "if he didn't quit using around there" > -- and many more like this. "The Annotated Huckleberry Finn" (with introduction, notes, and bibliography by Michael Patrick Hearn), Potter Inc., New York, 1981, ISBN: 0-517-530317, explains many, perhaps most, probably not all of the expressions. If you'll tell me where in what chapter your above quoted expression occurs, I'll tell you if the book explains it. Amazon has the book, new and used. Abebooks.com has copies from $7.50 + S&H. SignatureJohn Varela (Trade "OLD" lamps for "NEW" for email.) I apologize for munging the address but the spam is too much. > > I'm not referring to the "slave" dialect, but rather to some of the > > backwoodsy utterances such as "if he didn't quit using around there" [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > If you'll tell me where in what chapter your above quoted expression occurs, > I'll tell you if the book explains it. Well, I would like to know what, exactly, it means. It's near the beginning of Chapter 6, and refers to Huck's father: "He got to hanging around the widow's too much and so she told him at last that if he didn't quit using around there she would make trouble for him." > Amazon has the book, new and used. Abebooks.com has copies from $7.50 + S&H. SignatureRaymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com > Well, I would like to know what, exactly, it means. It's near the beginning > of Chapter 6, and refers to Huck's father: "He got to hanging around the > widow's too much and so she told him at last that if he didn't quit using > around there she would make trouble for him." I know you saw my post of last night because you responded to it. In it I said: >> I checked a few places, and in the Dictionary of American English I >> found that, yes, the verb "use" had the meaning "to make frequent >> visits" with examples from 1770-1924. DAE called this meaning "Now rare >> or local," and that was in 1938. "Making frequent visits" fits just fine, don't you think? SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux "Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote... > > Well, I would like to know what, exactly, it means. It's near the > > beginning of Chapter 6, and refers to Huck's father: "He got to [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > "Making frequent visits" fits just fine, don't you think? I looked it up in NSOED, and the situation is fully as complex as I'd feared. However, I think the relevant usage is labelled 3b "Spend or pass (a period of time) in a certain way". It's from Late Middle English, and marked as obsolete. Matti > "Donna Richoux" <trio@euronet.nl> wrote... > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > > > "Making frequent visits" fits just fine, don't you think? To Donna: I either did not read that part of your post, or I read it and forgot about it when I wrote my later post. Now that I check the verb "use" in _The Century Dictionary,_ I see that it has a similar definition as a transitive verb. However, the verb in the cite appears to be used intransitively. See below for further comments. > I looked it up in NSOED, and the situation is fully as complex as I'd > feared. However, I think the relevant usage is labelled 3b "Spend or > pass (a period of time) in a certain way". It's from Late Middle > English, and marked as obsolete. To Donna and Matti: That appears to be the relevant sense. _The Century Dictionary_ contains the following entry: From www.century-dictionary.com [quote] II. _intrans._ [...] 3. To be accustomed to go ; linger or stay habitually ; dwell. [Obsolete or provincial.] This fellow _useth_ to the fencing-school, this to the dancing school. _Dekker,_ Gull's Hornbook, p. 154. I will give thee for thy food No fish that _useth_ in the mud. _Fletcher._ Faithful Shepherdess, iii. 1. Ders er ole gray rat wat _uses_ 'bout yer, en time atter time he comes out w'en you all done gond ter bed, . . . en me en him talks by de 'our. _J. C. Harris,_ Uncle Remus, xiv. [end quote] SignatureRaymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com > I looked it up in NSOED, and the situation is fully as complex as I'd > feared. However, I think the relevant usage is labelled 3b "Spend or > pass (a period of time) in a certain way". It's from Late Middle > English, and marked as obsolete. Presumably this is related to the current fixed form "used to", which I believe was still productive (as in "I am using to <do something>") at the time.[1] [1] I saw it used that way on a slide a few years ago in a presentation, but it was from a non-native speaker--and it confused most of the audience, as we all assumed his "use to" should have been "used to" (i.e., "is no longer") when he really meant "currently does". SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |The body was wrapped in duct tape, 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 |weighted down with concrete blocks Palo Alto, CA 94304 |and a telephone cord was tied |around the neck. Police suspect kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |foul play... (650)857-7572 http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ > > > I'm not referring to the "slave" dialect, but rather to some of the > > > backwoodsy utterances such as "if he didn't quit using around there" [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > widow's too much and so she told him at last that if he didn't quit using > around there she would make trouble for him." Surely it's the same usage as the "modern" variant "drug using", in other words using alcohol. > > Amazon has the book, new and used. Abebooks.com has copies from $7.50 + > S&H. > Well, I would like to know what, exactly, it means. It's near the beginning > of Chapter 6, and refers to Huck's father: "He got to hanging around the > widow's too much and so she told him at last that if he didn't quit using > around there she would make trouble for him." It's footnote 1 to that chapter: 1 _if he didn't quit using around there._ If he didn't stop hanging around there. SignatureJohn Varela (Trade "OLD" lamps for "NEW" for email.) I apologize for munging the address but the spam is too much. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.