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NL888 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
“Men mahys dem fer dey money”? What does it mean?
Three lines below were all written in broken English.
What dialects are they?
Please rewrite them in standard English.
Context:
“No, you ain’,” said Mammy grimly. “Not while Ah got breaf. You eat dem cakes. Sop dem in
de gravy, honey.”
“I don’t think Yankee girls have to act like such fools. When we were at Saratoga last year, I
noticed plenty of them acting like they had right good sense and in front of men, too.”
Mammy snorted.
“Yankee gals! Yas’m, Ah guess dey speaks dey minds awright, but Ah ain’ noticed many of dem
gittin’ proposed ter at Saratoga.”
“But Yankees must get married,” argued Scarlett. “They don’t just grow. They must get married
and have children. There’s too many of them.”
“Men mahys dem fer dey money,” said Mammy firmly.
What dialects are they?
Please rewrite them in standard English.
Context:
“No, you ain’,” said Mammy grimly. “Not while Ah got breaf. You eat dem cakes. Sop dem in
de gravy, honey.”
“I don’t think Yankee girls have to act like such fools. When we were at Saratoga last year, I
noticed plenty of them acting like they had right good sense and in front of men, too.”
Mammy snorted.
“Yankee gals! Yas’m, Ah guess dey speaks dey minds awright, but Ah ain’ noticed many of dem
gittin’ proposed ter at Saratoga.”
“But Yankees must get married,” argued Scarlett. “They don’t just grow. They must get married
and have children. There’s too many of them.”
“Men mahys dem fer dey money,” said Mammy firmly.
Top answer
Gone with the Wind , I guess. That is an attempt to render in eye dialect the speech of an enslaved black woman in the American South during the Civil War, around 1860. Nobody talks exactly like that any more, but you can still hear something like it here and there.
- Gone with the Wind , I guess.
- That is an attempt to render in eye dialect the speech of an enslaved black woman in the American South during the Civil War, around 1860.
- Nobody talks exactly like that any more, but you can still hear something like it here and there.
- It is marked by a peculiar grammar and pronunciation.
- “No, you ain’,” said Mammy grimly.
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1 Answers
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Gone with the Wind, I guess. That is an attempt to render in eye dialect the speech of an enslaved black woman in the American South during the Civil War, around 1860. Nobody talks exactly like that any more, but you can still hear something like it here and there. It is marked by a peculiar grammar and pronunciation.
“No, you ain’,” said Mammy grimly. “Not while Ah got breaf. Y
“No, you ain’,” said Mammy grimly. “Not while Ah got breaf. Y
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