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