Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 19:09:06 -0500

From: Daniel S Goodman dsg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAROON.TC.UMN.EDU

Subject: *Regionalism "Put up": thanks & summary (fwd)



---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Sat, 22 Jul 1995 17:16:48 -0400

From:NLGilbert[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]aol.com

To: mphair[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.bcpl.lib.md.us, STUMPERS-LIST[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CRF.CUIS.EDU

Subject: *Regionalism "Put up": thanks & summary





Dear stumpers,



A week ago I'd asked about the regionalism "put up," which I'd only heard in

my own family. During the week I saw my folks again, and Dad innocently

boasted that he'd put up ingredients in his new bread machine in honor of my

visit.



Special thanks to Dan Goodman for forwarding my query to the American Dialect

Society list, whence, among several interesting responses, Elizabeth Sklar

matched my demographics pretty precisely and traced "put up" through Yiddish

/ Russian / East Coast origins. My guess is that it could be an

Americanization of the Yiddish "oyf" ("up," same as German "auf," which means

both "up" and "on").



Thanks to stumpers Beth Bojack, Montgomery Phair, Chana Lajcher, and Jean

Lowerison/Roxanne Richards for sharing other regionalisms: "he don't," "gone

up" (which I know as a theatrical term -- to "go up" on one's lines means to

forget them), "Pick me down" (unique to Chana's toddling daughter, so far),

and the Calypso-isms "Up the window" and and "Full a glass," respectively.

Also thanks to Alison Hendon, who puts up coffee overnight as she puts out

cats.



With thanks for putting up with my off-topic request,



Nina Gilbert (whose current irrelevant question might be, how long does one

have to live at a new address before the ratio of wrong numbers in Spanish

drops below 50% of one's phone calls)



- - - - - - - - - -

NLGilbert[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]aol.com

Music historian and choral conductor

Falls Church, Virginia