tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6910681471067702529.post1099087150248415272..comments2012-08-05T08:45:19.781-07:00Comments on Henry Cadmus Olney Diary 1886: February 4 thru 7, 1886Don Olneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03538129571941391547noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6910681471067702529.post-288926528828841052009-02-06T04:33:00.000-08:002009-02-06T04:33:00.000-08:00Anne's response:My grandmother used the word quite...Anne's response:<BR/><BR/><BR/>My grandmother used the word quite frequently too, though I don't recall<BR/>any of her kids using it, my mother or aunts or anyone from that<BR/>generation. My OED lists the word of course, and does not list it as<BR/>"obsolete." The first written record of the word appears in 1306--so it's<BR/>old--and in a British text--so it's old, AND crossed the Atlantic. If<BR/>you're interested I can send you the family tree of its appearances (but<BR/>not everyone's as wonky as me, I admit).<BR/><BR/>Sometimes words just fall out of usage and logic rarely has anything to do<BR/>with it (think of all the comedians who have written routines around that<BR/>premise, George Carlin, Steven Wright). Part of it's because people, I<BR/>think, tend to mimic what they hear. You could always try resurrecting the<BR/>word, and see if it catches on!<BR/><BR/>Anyway to answer your question no, I don't think it was just a regionalism.<BR/>I'm still pretty sure the earlier "mother goose" was, but no one, so far,<BR/>seems to know for sure. Try to ask the oldest person you know from these<BR/>parts. You never know!<BR/><BR/>Thanks Anne!Don Olneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03538129571941391547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6910681471067702529.post-56935791800656197522009-02-05T18:34:00.000-08:002009-02-05T18:34:00.000-08:00Seems like I remember using "forenoon" when I was ...Seems like I remember using "forenoon" when I was a kid, but the term seems to have drifted away? I wonder if it was a regionalism? Anne is the family wordsmith ... I'll ask her.Don Olneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03538129571941391547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6910681471067702529.post-26632425992843174772009-02-05T18:02:00.000-08:002009-02-05T18:02:00.000-08:00I love his use of "forenoon". You'd think we woul...I love his use of "forenoon". You'd think we would still use this term since we use "afternoon". I think Omar and Hattie must have been married in 1888, since they had first son (and my grandfather) Henry Warren Olney on 10/29/1889. I don't have their actual marriage date in my FTM database. I will check some other records to see if I can find it.Dave Olneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11811852051421606185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6910681471067702529.post-15600612972263325372009-02-04T07:46:00.000-08:002009-02-04T07:46:00.000-08:00I just love how social these guys are! I know the...I just love how social these guys are! I know there was not much other entertainment to be had, but still. I know my own Alvin and Amelia certainly were not this social. Altho they did have a pinochle group.<BR/><BR/>I know so little about my great grandparents; just that Grandpa John was the one who scandalized the family by going to Florida in the winters (by train). And that's why my dad has ended up there in retirement. He listened to John's advice. *S*Sequanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08617638382237815770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6910681471067702529.post-12355481347104309882009-02-04T04:10:00.000-08:002009-02-04T04:10:00.000-08:00And maybe there was a piano there...seems like onc...And maybe there was a piano there...seems like once upon a time every living room had one! (I never have understood why they've disappeared.)<BR/><BR/>If Rowene's old place was typical of the size of those homes, I can see how you'd get that many people in...though of course folks would be milling around from room to room and maybe even moving outside to a porch. Likely if you've got that many people living in your house all the time, what's another half a dozen or so?Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00866782664067835055noreply@blogger.com