I'm partial to our shrubs, just because of the sentimental tie, but they're common in yards around here. And when I heard a neighbor describe them as "Rosasharn," I remembered the young girl from Grapes of Wrath who bore that name.
Local pronunciation had me baffled for quite a while. Once a neighbor gave me an apple, bragging on how good it tasted and what a long keeper it was. After a bite, I asked for the name, thinking we would plant a tree of this fine apple. He told me the name and I carefully wrote it down -- Yarkin Pearl. I wondered where or who Yarkin was but didn't find out till I began to peruse a catalogue of antique apple varieties.
Try I never so hard, I couldn't find the Yarkin Pearl. I did, however, find what I was looking for -- the York Imperial.
4 comments:
The different accents and dialects are what make various regions unique. My husband was born and raised in the Savannah, Georgia area, but doesn't have much of an accent, and definitely doesn't pronounce words the way most from that area do. When he was a kid, he went to a small, private Christian school for a time and had a teacher who wouldn't let them "mispronounce" words. I think it's a shame in a way. It's like losing part of your heritage.
It'll be a sad day when the accents are all gone. On the other hand, it's a useful skill to be able to move from the accent of your choice or raising to Standard Educated Speech -- good for job interviews etc.
African-Americans learned this a long time ago -- Eddie Murphy used to do a great 'bit' with this premise.
I love the hardiness, and the wonderful show the Rose of Sharon puts on every year. I don't have any in my yard, but several from my neighbors yard have spilled over into the fence line. The sheep love to eat the million little sprouts too. :-) I should have 'zoomed' your egg picture in--once I did I could see the green eggs (Which look much like the ones I get)--but they looked so bright white in the picture, I just ran with it. ha I love the story about the apple tree! A 'reverse' story regarding new technology diaglouge: Quite a few years ago, my Dad copied down an email address for me, from someone he was talking to on the phone ---the way he copied it went something like this--jduck ACK hotmail DOT come. I still have it somewhere and laugh when I see it. Since then, both my Mom and Dad have mastered at at times surpass me in computer skills! ;-)
Tammy
That's another nice thing this writing gig has done for me -- forced me to learn to use the computer. And what a useful thing it is!
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