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[Autobiographical details: I was born in Philadelphia in 1968; have lived in Virginia since the early '70s, but stubbornly resisted Southernisms ever since. When I found out that I was saying 'lightning bugs' instead of 'fireflies', I immediately reverted to the latter.]

These are items of my idiolect that are purely reflexive and un-self-conscious ... until I find other people saying them differently.

The past tense of 'spit' (expectorate) is 'spat'; that of 'spit' (poke a stick through) is 'spitted'

Different 'from' vs. different 'than' ['than' is restricted to differences of degree, not kind]

The past tense of 'light' is 'lit'

The p.t. of 'awaken' is 'awoke'

There is a difference between the intransitive 'lie' (p.t. 'lay') and the transitive 'lay' (p.t. 'laid')

The p.t. of 'hang [a man]' is 'hanged'

There is no audible distinction between 'Mary' and 'marry', but 'merry' is distinctly different

'Aunt' rhymes with 'font'

'Father' rhymes with 'bother'

No distinction between 'cot' and 'caught' (I've been trying to get into the habit of pronouncing them [kat] and [kawt], but have no idea what the historical distinction actually is)

'When' is distinct from 'wen' (Googling for the etymology of 'wen', BTW, I discovered that a word meaning 'sebaceous cyst' has been adopted for a line of hair-care products! LOL)

Ia-Itundhoar wrote:The past tense of 'spit' (expectorate) is 'spat'; the p.t. of 'spit' (poke a stick through') is 'spitted'

probably

The p.t. of 'awaken' is 'awoke'

yes but literary

The p.t. of 'light' is 'lit'

isn't this the case everywhere in America?

There is a clear distinction between 'Mary' and 'marry' (which sound alike) and 'merry'

no

Different "from" rather than different "than"

either is fine for me

also are they potato bugs or roly-polies

(I'm from Maryland and hear both, just like with 'fireflies' vs 'lightning bugs', but in both cases I'd only say the former since the latter are too low-register, like saying 'put it up' instead of 'put it away')

Roly-pollies is the only name I've ever heard for them.

Strange. I've never been to the USA, but all of those are part of my idiolect, except the following:

Ia-Itundhoar wrote:There is no audible distinction between 'Mary' and 'marry', but 'merry' is distinctly different

all three of which are different, and I never say "different than".

yeah you are basically British except for that Mary-Marry merger

The past tense of 'spit' (expectorate) is 'spat'; that of 'spit' (poke a stick through) is 'spitted'

Sometimes, but only if I'm being fairly formal.

Different 'from' vs. different 'than' ['than' is restricted to differences of degree, not kind]

No.

The past tense of 'light' is 'lit'

...There's another past tense of "light"?

The p.t. of 'awaken' is 'awoke'

I'm completely inconsistent between "awakened" and "awoke" so I just try to avoid the word.

There is a difference between the intransitive 'lie' (p.t. 'lay') and the transitive 'lay' (p.t. 'laid')

Yes.

The p.t. of 'hang [a man]' is 'hanged'

Yes. "Hun" as pt of "hanging a person" bothers me. A lot.

There is no audible distinction between 'Mary' and 'marry', but 'merry' is distinctly different

No--I pronounce all three as homophones. I also pronounce and/end and since/sense as homophones, with /ɛ/ in all of them--unless I'm speaking very carefully. Also in "milk."

The past tense of 'spit' (expectorate) is 'spat'; that of 'spit' (poke a stick through) is 'spitted'

Different 'from' vs. different 'than' ['than' is restricted to differences of degree, not kind]

The past tense of 'light' is 'lit'

The p.t. of 'awaken' is 'awoke'

There is a difference between the intransitive 'lie' (p.t. 'lay') and the transitive 'lay' (p.t. 'laid')

The p.t. of 'hang [a man]' is 'hanged hung'

There is no audible distinction between 'Mary' and 'marry', but 'merry' is distinctly different the same

Nortaneous wrote:also are they potato bugs or roly-polies

Either one, I think. I don't hear talk of them much, so I couldn't say.

ObsequiousNewt wrote:The p.t. of 'hang [a man]' is 'hanged hung'

*cringes*

ObsequiousNewt wrote:The p.t. of 'hang [a man]' is 'hanged hung'

Unfortunately, this is not often the case

ObsequiousNewt wrote:The p.t. of 'hang [a man]' is 'hanged hung'

"ObsequiousNewt has hung that monument of masculinity, the king himself!" Are you sure this sounds grammatical to you?

KathAveara wrote:

ObsequiousNewt wrote:The p.t. of 'hang [a man]' is 'hanged hung'

*cringes*

What? That's what I hear.

(EDIT: Okay, so sue me. Also, I wouldn't hang the king.)

Anyone familiar with these? (They're randomly selected, but I think they're vaguely Midwest-ish features.)

- "off of" instead of merely "off".
- Finishing all "where" questions with "at": "Where are you at?" (It's not just ebonics: I've heard upper-class white people say this.)
- this hilarious mondegreen
- novel p.t. "drug" for "drag"
- /ʃ/ at the start of "str", e.g. "shtrength"
- superfluous /d/ at the end of "drown" (so that the p.t. sounds liked "drownded")
- /iːŋ/ for /ɪŋ/ at the end of words (with added stress), which I think is a west-coast thing but I'm not sure where.

Rhetorica wrote:Anyone familiar with these? (They're randomly selected, but I think they're vaguely Midwest-ish features.)

- "off of" instead of merely "off".
- Finishing all "where" questions with "at": "Where are you at?" (It's not just ebonics: I've heard upper-class white people say this.)
- this hilarious mondegreen
- novel p.t. "drug" for "drag"
- /ʃ/ at the start of "str", e.g. "shtrength"
- superfluous /d/ at the end of "drown" (so that the p.t. sounds liked "drownded")
- /iːŋ/ for /ɪŋ/ at the end of words (with added stress), which I think is a west-coast thing but I'm not sure where.

• I have pick it up off the table but get off of it! Not sure how to call this one.
• Definitely have. I just realized this is why hearing Luke in Empire Strikes Back say "R2! Where are you?" sounds a little off.
• thankfully no
• most definitely.
• nope.
• nope.
• only as mock emphasis.

- "off of" instead of merely "off". yes
- Finishing all "where" questions with "at": "Where are you at?" (It's not just ebonics: I've heard upper-class white people say this.) no
- this hilarious mondegreen no, I say "dresser"
- novel p.t. "drug" for "drag" only if I'm tongue-tied
- /ʃ/ at the start of "str", e.g. "shtrength" no, although if I keep studying German I might develop this
- superfluous /d/ at the end of "drown" (so that the p.t. sounds liked "drownded") no
- /iːŋ/ for /ɪŋ/ at the end of words (with added stress), which I think is a west-coast thing but I'm not sure where. no

"Midwest" ha.

May be that you're reanalysing (quite sensibly) 'get off' as a verb in itself, requiring another preposition? Do you also have "get on to the bus" (vs 'get on the bus')?

Salmoneus wrote:May be that you're reanalysing (quite sensibly) 'get off' as a verb in itself, requiring another preposition? Do you also have "get on to the bus" (vs 'get on the bus')?

Yes, although I don't think that "off of" really appears in other circumstances for anyone. (Frankly, can anyone provide an example of "off" used as an independent preposition?)

It'd probably prove useful to point out that Drydic is from Idaho.

Having any word at all for "spitted" pretty much makes you a Southerner, sorry.

Salmoneus wrote:May be that you're reanalysing (quite sensibly) 'get off' as a verb in itself, requiring another preposition? Do you also have "get on to the bus" (vs 'get on the bus')?

No. You suggest something intriguing.

Serafín wrote:It'd probably prove useful to point out that Drydic is from Idaho.

HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

SPEAK NOT THAT PLACENAME

Zaarin wrote:...There's another past tense of "light"?

I believe he's referring to "lighted".

"off of" just sounds to me like a higher-register version of "off", i'd say either, probably more likely "off"

don't have anything else in that isogloss

ObsequiousNewt wrote:

Salmoneus wrote:May be that you're reanalysing (quite sensibly) 'get off' as a verb in itself, requiring another preposition? Do you also have "get on to the bus" (vs 'get on the bus')?

Yes, although I don't think that "off of" really appears in other circumstances for anyone. (Frankly, can anyone provide an example of "off" used as an independent preposition?)

I took the money off the table
I nicked the money off my friend
I lived off the money for a year
I lived off the land for a year
Get off my land! (this one is borderline - for me, 'get off' is a phrasal verb here, but some people have 'get' as a verb meaning 'to leave', in which case this is transparent verb plus preposition)
We scored off their corner
He made his money off insider trading
He chipped a corner off the block of stone
He knocked the vase off the table
They make money off the suffering of the poor
The ball bounced off the wall

'Off of'-ers, do you have 'off of' for all the above?

Salmoneus wrote:

ObsequiousNewt wrote:

Salmoneus wrote:May be that you're reanalysing (quite sensibly) 'get off' as a verb in itself, requiring another preposition? Do you also have "get on to the bus" (vs 'get on the bus')?

Yes, although I don't think that "off of" really appears in other circumstances for anyone. (Frankly, can anyone provide an example of "off" used as an independent preposition?)

I took the money off the table
I nicked the money off my friend
I lived off the money for a year
I lived off the land for a year
Get off my land! (this one is borderline - for me, 'get off' is a phrasal verb here, but some people have 'get' as a verb meaning 'to leave', in which case this is transparent verb plus preposition)
We scored off their corner
He made his money off insider trading
He chipped a corner off the block of stone
He knocked the vase off the table
They make money off the suffering of the poor
The ball bounced off the wall

'Off of'-ers, do you have 'off of' for all the above?

Yes, although I'm more likely to use "from" for several of those.