Date:  Wed, 24 Jan 1996 10:36:41 -0700

From:  Rudy Troike <RTROIKE[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU>

Subject: Re: cheap folks



Dear Shana,

    Rest assured that "chinchy" was the only form I heard or used growing

up at the southern tip of Texas. I've seen "chintzy" in print, and perhaps

heard it, though I can't recall from whom or where. I suppose "chintzy", on

the face of it, offers some etymological sense, but I always thought it was

a mistaken version of "chinchy" (Don Lance and I know that South Texas English

is the purest to be found). A related form used there is "pinchy", usually

pronounced with a somewhat Hispanicized raised /iy/.



    --Rudy Troike (rtroike[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ccit.arizona.edu)