Doug,

You are right.  Now that I read my lines again, I am not quite
sure what I was trying to say.  I think I meant to say simply that when
we discuss Twain's use of dialect, we need to remember, for what it may
be worth, that it is a fictional dialect and not a literal presentation
of speech.

Clarifyingly yours,

Jason G. Horn
Gordon College
Barnesville,
GA=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:21:08 -0600
Reply-To:     Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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From:         Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Bitchslap
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This week I have been teaching Life on the Mississippi.  Mark Twain
certainly delights in the vernacular in that book.  He admires one
steamboatman, for example, for the sublimity of his profane speech.

I guess this must seem obvious, but isn't it ironic that we are quibbling
over a slang word (granted, one that is indeed possibly offensive to some)
on a list devoted to one of America's pioneers in the use and admiration of
such language??

Hmmm?

Harold K. Bush
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO