Comments on: In the Archives: Faint Footprints

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:10:59 +0000

Fun article! (But, man, it really mangles the description of the NCS, mixing it up with a couple other phenomena).

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:36:54 +0000

Here is an interesting article that quotes Preston and examines some distinct/amusing features of Michigan English: [link] There's also a link to a podcast of a discussion of the subject on the Craig Fahle Show. Excerpt: “Every generation says that language is going to hell in a basket,” Preston says, adding, “For some odd reason, despite this trip to hell, the language survives.”

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:28:05 +0000

Rod: that is fascinating about the “Michigan genitive.” I realized I use it too without thinking twice about it. A bit of Googling reveals that this is an apparently common feature of German. Due to my ignorance I hesitate to guess if local German immigrant settlers transferred this linguistic feature to English when they learned/spoke the latter.

Interesting comments on states/regionals, too.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:02:34 +0000

No, I think that’s just a plural, a condensed version of “state playoffs.” You also hear “districts” and “regionals.”

By: Rici

Rici — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 02:22:17 +0000

I recently heard someone referring to the a high school sports state playoffs as “states”, as in “they’ve got the bracket for states out”. Weird. Is that another example of the Michigan genitive?

By: Tom Brandt

Tom Brandt — Sat, 21 May 2011 14:08:48 +0000

So much for that theory!

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Sat, 21 May 2011 12:41:54 +0000

Other usages attested on the internets: Walmart’s (!), Rite-Aid’s, Target’s, Home Depot’s(I have never heard these); (Montgomery) Ward’s, Penney’s, Jewel’s, Panera’s (these I have). I think Dennis Preston at MSU is the go-to guy on this.

By: Tom Brandt

Tom Brandt — Sat, 21 May 2011 03:38:42 +0000

Re:[12] I’m thinking that most of the time, it’s because the companies were named after their founders; e.g., Mr. Ford’s Car Company (which is what I heard occasionally growing up). Chrysler is the obvious exception.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Sat, 21 May 2011 00:01:41 +0000

When I was in the Linguistics biz, we called that the “Michigan genitive.” It’s a puzzle why some names get it and others don’t. I collected examples for a while. Never heard K-Mart’s, but Kroger’s, Farmer Jack’s, Kellogg’s, Meijer’s and Ford’s were common; Chrysler’s or GM’s, never.

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Fri, 20 May 2011 22:01:09 +0000

Do they pronounce Meijer as “Meyer” or Major”? Same as putting an “s” on the end of Ford or K-Mart: some sort of accent that has lingered in the area.