Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 08:21:56 -0400
From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU
Subject: Re: 'chili' or 'chile'
I personally always say 'chili' (chilly) in English and 'chile' (CHEE-lay)
in Spanish for everything - the pepper, the dried powder, the dish (whether
soupy or thick, with (ugh!) or without (yum!) beans, etc.... I use these
pronunciations regardless of spelling.
Of course, there are North and South Chili ('chay-lie') New York (outside
Rochester), but that is another matter.
Dennis Preston (not a southwestern dialectologist)
preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu
I am from Texas, but I may not be too savvy. However, I think that I
observe the English/Spanish distinction Dennis noted above.
The real question, of course, is what goes into the Texan soup. I went to
a chili cookoff/fiddle contest in San Marcos, TX, once. I saw a guy flay a
rattlesnake. One chili was called "outhouse chili" and had sow/pill/doodle
bugs in it. I did not necessarily see an appetizing array of things to
eat. I pitied the judges.
Wayne Glowka
Professor of English
Director of Research and Graduate Student Services
Georgia College
Milledgeville, GA 31061
912-453-4222
wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu