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BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh
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BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh |
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Subject: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: katlaughing Date: 14 Nov 01 - 11:08 PM My mom always used this expression, and having been a Westerner, she always pronounced it with the "r" in the middle. Just wondering what the origins are of the original saying. Did it refer to dyes running or blood or what? Anyone know? Thanks, katkurious |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: GUEST,dharmagirl Date: 14 Nov 01 - 11:49 PM they put an "r" in those words ("Wa(r)shington") in Indiana too... |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Robin2 Date: 14 Nov 01 - 11:52 PM I'm guilty of adding r to wash as well, and I'm from KY (But my Dad's from Kansas, so maybe that's where I got it) Robin |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Mark Cohen Date: 15 Nov 01 - 12:37 AM kat, I always assumed it was just about dirt. You know, it doesn't matter if you get this or that on your clothes, because it will all... Nothing very esoteric. But I could be wrong, and often am. And no extra -- or dropped -- R's for us Philadelphians, thank you very much. Aloha, Mark |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: katlaughing Date: 15 Nov 01 - 12:43 AM Oh such purity from the land of Brotherly Love! *bg* Could be, Mark, that was just dirt. I am really curious as to how it came to be common and also how it came to be used as a catch-all phrase meaning sort of "it'll all work out, somehow." Funny, my mom's dad was from PA and her mom from KS, so I wonder which one she got it from? My dad's folks were from Nova Scotia and down South, so who knows; they could have wound up adding "r" to the ends of things such as "law" PLUS the "r" in the middle of things such as "wash!" |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: GUEST,BigDaddy Date: 15 Nov 01 - 12:58 AM Never thought about what it meant exactly when I was young. Looking back, it just seems to be a metaphor for the belief that all things will be revealed and made plain in a final accounting and sorting-out. I'd rather not think about how old I was when I first realized that it was (or should be) wash cloth, rather than warsh rag. Southern parentage, you see. And I don't mean that as anything but a statement of fact. It's one thing when we call each other "hillbilly," but quite another when an outsider says it. Kinda like the "n word." |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: katlaughing Date: 15 Nov 01 - 01:06 AM Haha, what memories! A lot of that Southern must've come out West, Big Daddy, 'cause I grew up calling it a "warsh rag," too! Still do when my sisters and I get around each other! Do you eat your biscuits with butter and sugar on them, too? The great book and documentary which came out in the 80's The Story of English focussed on the way language travelled from the British Isles to the States, and from the South to the West. Very interesting. I wish someone would show it, again. Thanks, kat |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: GUEST,BigDaddy Date: 15 Nov 01 - 02:24 AM I used to eat bread (white, of course) that way as a child, kat. I eat my biscuits with sorghum molasses and butter (called butter molasses, down home) when I can. Don't tell anyone, please. Weird thing is: I'm in Florida now, and feel like I have to go north to get down south (Tennessee, that is). |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: The Walrus at work Date: 15 Nov 01 - 08:58 AM To get back to the original post [Ducks to avoid flying sugar/molasses covered "biscuits"].. As far as I know, "It'll all come out in the wash" comes from Kipling's "Stellenbosch"
"..And it all goes into the laundry, Stellenbosch (a south African town) was a posting for an officer removed as ineffective on their way to forcible retirement. To be "Stellenbosched" was to be so retired (the later equivalent was to be "bowler hatted"). Walrus (delving into trivia again).
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: katlaughing Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:04 AM Thanks, Walrus!! We were steeped in Kipling when growing up and I don't ever remember hearing that one. Somehow it seems fitting that it came from him. Duck! Incoming molasses butter!*grin* kat |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Sorcha Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:12 AM I'm from Kansas, too, and we added the r. Also, relative to the prounciation of long O--choir director nearly tore his hair out over the "Battle Hymn"...took weeks to learn to sing "glooory" instead of "glarrrry". Funny thing is, now when I go back, I notice that some Kansans (Kinsins) have a strong Southern accent, others almost none. Doesn't even matter if they have ever been out of the state or not. |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Celtic Soul Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:18 AM My ex, a native Baltimoron...er, I mean "Baltimorian", used to not only say "Warsh", but he also said "zink"... As in, "Gonna have to warsh the laundry in the zink, cuz the warshers broke". I have *no* clue why there's an r in wash...unless they were trying to use up all the r's that the New Englanders don't use. And I am even more clue challenged as to why there is a z in sink. ;D |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: katlaughing Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:25 AM Sinks used to be made of zinc, I think, maybe from that reference? I noticed the other day, that my dad, one of the few natives left of Western Colorado with that genuine accent, sings "Deekota" in 'Dakota Cross." I have no idea where that came from. It's a soft "ee" but very distinct. LOL, thanks! kat
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:27 AM That Kansas north/south accent thing is almost sure to go back to the Kansas War, before the Civil War. The election (plebiscite?) was going to come up as to whether Kansas was to be all slave or all free, and both sections of the country were trying to pack the ballot box, as it were. Large numbers of slavery advocates moved in, even though many of them might not intend to stay permanently, and so did lots of abolitionists. Then there started raids and murders, trying to either drive out or kill whoever was on the opposite side of the conflict. John Brown and his sons were on the abolitionist side, and Quantrell the raider (with Jesse James in his crew, I understand) on the pro-slavery side. Even after the active violent phase was over and so was the status of the state, the respective populations (not surprisingly) carried the grudge, and tended to remain apart, and maintained the folkways of their origins. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Hollowfox Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:34 AM I thought it meant that there's a problem now, but a remedy in the future. Think of little kids who get their best clothes dirty at a party, think the clothes are ruined forever, and think they're in trouble for it (parents do make out clothes to be important that way). I know I was told that the stain would come out in the wash. Then (my opinion) the phrase got moved (abducted?) into the realm of metaphor, where something hidden came into public knowledge, thus solving a person's problem, like a false accusation being disproved. (Either I'm following local politics too closely or I need to stop watching those detective movies.) FWIW, the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms (1997), explains it as "A problem will be solved or difficulties will disappear." (Didn't I read that in a fortune cookie?) (Getting back to the quote)"Cervantes had the=is metaphoric use of laundry for cleaning up a mess or difficulty in Don Quixote (Todo saldra' en la colada) and it has been repeated ever since." We warsh in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania as well. |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:44 AM I remember how offended I was when John F. Kennedy, looking to be president, toured Indiana and told us, "I'm happy to be here in Indianer." Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Kim C Date: 15 Nov 01 - 10:45 AM I guess I'm an anomaly... I've lived in the South all my life and somehow escaped the peculiarity of turning one syllable into three or four. The number after nine is TEN, not teeeyyyyiiin, and gosh golly, I write with a PEN, too. I have even been accused of Not Being a Southerner because I don't have what most people consider The Accent. Get a couple of beers in me though, and all bets are off. :-) I used to work with a lady from Richmond, VA. She didn't say warsh, but she had a funny way of saying water. It sounded like "wooter." One of Mister's friends in the wilds of Indiana talks like a hillbilly, so to speak. He's lived there all his life. He says "poosh" instead of "push." |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: katlaughing Date: 15 Nov 01 - 11:27 AM It's funny isn't it. My New England SO says bury is meant to be pronounced the way it is spelled and so says, "ber ree" while we've always said "berry." Somehow "O ber-ree me not on the lone prairie" just doesn't sound right.:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: It'll all come out in the wa(r)sh From: Sorcha Date: 15 Nov 01 - 04:21 PM Weeeel, you could say "burry" kat........you could even roll the r's. Sound like LJC, you would. |