The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #32707   Message #2847072
Posted By: robinia
22-Feb-10 - 05:45 PM
Thread Name: Help: Origin of word 'maudlin'?
Subject: RE: Help: Origin of word 'maudlin'?
A class thing? It's also kind of a "gang" thing--a way of distinguishing insiders from outsiders. So we smiled in West Virginia when national newscasters talked about a toxic spill on the Kanawha River, struggling to pronounce all the consonants instead of simply saying K'naw.   And Oregon is a simple enough name, but "outsiders" have a way of revealing themselves by overstressing the last syllable.