[Magdalen] Mary, Marry, and Merry

[Scott Knitter]

My maternal grandfather occasionally used the word "dasn't" (pronounced
DAZ-n't) to mean "may not," as in "You dasn't park on this side of the
street on even-numbered days." Not sure where "dasn't" comes from. We're
Polish-American (with a definite German influence), but I know almost no
Polish. The German "Man darf nicht..." doesn't seem comparable. But
"doesn't" does...perhaps it's an attempt to bend "doesn't" for another
purpose?

Merriam-Webster says: partly contraction of (thou) darst not (from Middle
English), partly contraction of (he) dares not. Something else says it's
most common in the northeastern USA. He lived his life in Milwaukee (in the
Midwest).

Kind of cool that my grandfather spoke Middle English (sort of). :)

On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 6:32 AM ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

> She also used "shan't" for shall not.
> And "shaun't" for should not.
> -M
>
> She had a very old vocabulary.
> > Like Shakespeare, she used the word vaunt.
> >
>


-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA