Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 15:16:42 EDT

From: flanigan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]OUVAXA.CATS.OHIOU.EDU

Subject: mouth ulcers and plagiarism



Ohio University Electronic Communication





Date: 03-Aug-1995 02:46pm EST



To: Remote Addressee ( _mx%"ads-l[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uga.cc.uga.edu )



From: Beverly Flanigan Dept: Linguistics

FLANIGAN Tel No:



Subject: mouth ulcers and plagiarism





Two replies and a query:

Growing up in Minnesota ('40s and '50s), I, like the Kansas and western

New York State writers, distinguished between cold sore (outside) and

canker sore (inside). I don't recall hearing the distinction in St.

Louis, southern Indiana, or southern Ohio, my subsequent homes,

although it may exist in all three areas.



In a similar vein: My Minnesota-born father (born 1900) insisted that

one should say "Give it me" (no prep. phrase), not "Give me it." Why?

Because his New England-born country schoolmarm (born circa 1865) said

so, that's why! Her usage violates the standard word order rule for

direct and indirect object pronouns, of course; but has anyone else

ever heard this? We argued about it endlessly in my smart-alecky high

school days, but he was just as prescriptive as I was and wouldn't

budge. (Incidentally, he was so devoted to this teacher that he

brought her a chicken every Christmas for the last 20 years or so of

her 103 years of life--talk about a shaping influence!)



On Lynne's problem with plagiarism: Many students in other cultures

"cheat" because they don't know what plagiarism (a Western academic

concept) is. I recently taught a group of visiting teachers (black and

white) from South Africa, Namibia, and Lesotho, and they reported that

this is indeed a common phenomenon; but I've had graduate students from

all over the world who do the same thing. But then, haven't we all had

this same problem with American students? If it is indeed a problem

(and it is if your cultural context defines it as such), don't

despair--teach to it!

Beverly Flanigan

Ohio University







Received: 03-Aug-1995 03:16pm