Tue, Dec 30, 2003, 12:24pm (EST+5) (Glen) claims:
snip The deep dialect in some areas of Tennessee, for example, is the
closest surviving remmnant to Elizabethan English. It is one of the few
areas where words such as neer (as in neer do well), nary, and poke
(rather than a bag or a sack) are still in common usage. This dialect
has been preserved in the more isolated regions where until fairly
recently there was little or no outside the area contact, and now it is
generally used primarily by old timers. There are several projects
underway by several universities to record and save the speech patterns
for future study.

Well, that's interesting as Hell. Don't know how the theory would
stand up tho. I didn't come from TN, and I sure couldn't be said to
have been isolated. However, I have been known to use "neer do well"
once or twice, and say "nary" and "poke" at times. I would say you
could call it "common usage". When can I expect some of those
university fellers to come by? Do you think they'll call me "old
timer"?

JOAT
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Web Page Update 29 Dec 2003.
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