The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #50747   Message #1354241
Posted By: GUEST,John Garst - to Nerd
11-Dec-04 - 04:42 PM
Thread Name: Origin Of John Henry--part TWO
Subject: RE: Origin Of John Henry--part TWO
"Any name could be transformed into any other by a series of similar assumptions and logical leaps." - Nerd

Let's do an experiment. You come up with a plausible (meaning logically motivated) series of mutations by which some name other than "Margaret Dabney " becomes "Polly Ann." In doing this, you must not choose a name that ties into the series I've posited for "Margaret Dabney" -> "Polly Ann." Try something like "Barbara" -> "Polly Ann." If you succeed there, try "Jane" -> "Polly Ann." I'm curious about this myself, that is, about whether or not a "series of similar assumptions and logical leaps" can do the job.