Date:  Sun, 27 Feb 1994 11:36:30 -0700

From:  Rudy Troike <RTROIKE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ARIZVMS.BITNET>

Subject: "Fall" as transitive verb



The following is from my Chaucerian colleague, Sig Eisner. The topic may

be an old one on ADS-L. If so, pardon the redundancy.



From:  IN%"SEISNER[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU" "Sigmund Eisner" 27-FEB-1994 09:3



Good morning, Rudy:

    I suspect you will not find much, if anything, on "shut on the

water." It was said by a few fairly uneducated children within my

awareness radius when I was about ten and growing up some 30 miles south of

San Francisco. The reason I remember it is that I brought it home to my

own family and they roared with laughter. In fact it was a family joke for

years after I outgrew the tribe that initiated it. Still, if you do find

something, do let me know.



    One other that I found very interesting is the Oregonism "to fall

trees." The word "fell" is hardly ever used in the Oregon lumber area.

Furthermore, the person who cuts down the tree is called "the faller."

Once when I was expounding on this localism to a class at Oregon State, a

hefty fullback in the back row asked me if I would call the tree cutter "a

feller." Then he gave forth with a laugh that rattled the classroom windows

and slapped his own leg with a crack that shook the floor. That afternoon

I went to what library resources we had and discovered that they still fall

trees in some parts of Minnesota and also in what forests are left in

England. Since I use "fall" and "fell" when I explain the mysterious

distinction between "lie" and "lay" (that is mysterious to anyone who

wanders into my current classrooms), I've always been interested in that

particular item. The replacement of a strong for its weak verb parallel

or vice versa must be more widespread that just "lie" and "fall." Do you

know of any others?

            Sig