Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 10:11:07 -0500

From: "Dennis R. Preston" preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PILOT.MSU.EDU

Subject: Re: Neck Hue



Beverly,



When I was an undergrad at IU (before you were born), the locals were

called 'cutters' (for the same stone-cutting reasons you mention). When did

it change to 'stoneys'?



Dennis



A similar label in Bloomington, Indiana was "stoney," for the kids

whose parents worked in the limestone quarries south of town, and for

all non-town, non-IU kids. Cf. "farmer," "plowboy," etc. up North.



The social stereotyping extends beyond schoolkids, unfortunately. An

ESL teacher here was sneering at the speech of local kids just the

other day, noting in particular a neighboring town called Chauncey (how

do you all pronounce that name, by the way?) and adding, "Thank

goodness my kids are out of school" (presumably to avoid coming "under

the influence" any longer). Sadly, a linguist colleague commented that

Ohio elementary school teachers should all be required to take courses

in teaching ESL so they could teach Standard English as a Second

Dialect to these kids.



Dennis R. Preston

Department of Linguistics and Languages

Michigan State University

East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA

preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu

Office: (517)353-0740

Fax: (517)432-2736