"Dasn't or Dassn't"
ra...@oregoncoast.com
My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
anyone else use the word.
I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
it being used and can give me the history of the word.
Thank you.
Loretta
John Gross
If you would have used it in a sentence it might make it a little easier,
but I assume you mean something like "you 'dasn't' do that." Translated it
means "you does not do that." Of course proper grammer would be "you do
not do that."
I'm not a language expert so I can't give you much of an opinion other
than my meager translation. I've heard it mostly in the South, used by
both blacks and whites.
John "I dasn't use slang" Gross confe...@worldnet.att.net
Kate
ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
>
> My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
> West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
> me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
> anyone else use the word.
>
> I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
> it being used and can give me the history of the word.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Loretta
So if you were climbing that fence that you were many times told not to
do they would say "You daresn't climb that fence."
I always thought it was a "Pennsylvania Dutch" term.
Jim Elbrecht
From upstate NY, I've heard folks raised in the 30's use it. I
always understood it to be a contraction for 'dare not'. A 'dastard'
is a coward, so I could be correct. Then again, I'm just guessing....
jim
(thoughJohn was brave enough to use it in his sig, I dasn't use it in
mine)
<ra...@oregoncoast.com> wrote:
> My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
> West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
> me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
> anyone else use the word.
With names like:
Dubreuil,Durbur, Eggers, Elbrecht, Herchenroder,
Martens,Minehan,Prier, Siems, Whetmath and Witt,
at least I'm not swamped with leads. :-)
bol...@richnet.com
RA>My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
RA>West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
RA>me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
RA>anyone else use the word.
RA>I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
RA>it being used and can give me the history of the word.
RA>Thank you.
RA>Loretta
Hi Loretta,
My grandparents used to use that term also. It was a contraction
for "dare not". I never did understand how the "s" got into it.
Boli
Helen Ruth
ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
>
> My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
>
>
>
> Loretta
My grandfather, also born in Indiana (SW), used this same term.
However, he moved his family to central Texas in 1895 and I heard the
term many times (obviously later than that) from several of the older
persons - some of whom were born and raised in Texas. I have not heard
it in many years.
Robert J Pritzl
I used to hear "dasn't" while I was growing up in Wisconsin in the
1940's. (Predominantly German immigrant city).
Bob P.
AJH
In article <58dtar$m...@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net>, John Gross
<confe...@worldnet.att.net> writes
><ra...@oregoncoast.com> wrote:
>>My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
>>West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
>>me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
>>anyone else use the word.
>>
>>I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
>>it being used and can give me the history of the word.
>>
>>Thank you.
>>
>>Loretta
>>
>>
>
>
>but I assume you mean something like "you 'dasn't' do that." Translated it
>means "you does not do that." Of course proper grammer would be "you do
>not do that."
I think you might be barking up the wrong tree there. I think it's more
likely a contraction of the verb 'to dare' - I dare, you dare not
(daren't), thou darest not (dares' n't) ...
>
>I'm not a language expert so I can't give you much of an opinion other
>than my meager translation. I've heard it mostly in the South, used by
>both blacks and whites.
>
>
>John "I dasn't use slang" Gross confe...@worldnet.att.net
>
--
AJH
email: A...@starlt.demon.co.uk
R. Leutner
As long as guessing is allowed, I'd guess "dassn't" will turn out to be a
perfectly respectable dialect word, likely with clear English regional
roots by way of origin, although I don't recall it showing up in Fischer's
_Albion's Seed_. If I were in my office I'd check Mencken's The American
Language, where I betchll find it.
Bob Leutner
Iowa City IA
On Sun, 8 Dec 1996, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
> From upstate NY, I've heard folks raised in the 30's use it. I
> always understood it to be a contraction for 'dare not'. A 'dastard'
> is a coward, so I could be correct. Then again, I'm just guessing....
>
> jim
> (thoughJohn was brave enough to use it in his sig, I dasn't use it in
> mine)
>
> <ra...@oregoncoast.com> wrote:
>
> > My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
> > West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
> > me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
> > anyone else use the word.
>
>
>
R. Leutner
Well, for what it's worth, David Hackett Fischer in the amazingly
compendious _Albion's Seed_ does, in fact cite (p59) "darsn't" for dare
not, found in a word list said to record the speech of the "typical
Yankee" or "country Jonathan" in an 1893 New Hampshire local history. So
it looks like it's not Texan or Wisconsin German alone! I'd venture a
guess it's old enough the mysterious "s" might come from first person
singular, i.e., "dassn't" and variations having something to do with "thou
darest not." Now having just written that, I could swear I have read
(though never heard) "durst" in some vaguely related context, but it's a
hazy memory.
Bob Leutner
Iowa City IA
On Sun, 8 Dec 1996, Robert J Pritzl wrote:
> Helen Ruth wrote:
> >
> > ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
> > >
> > > My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
> > > West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
> > My grandfather, also born in Indiana (SW), used this same term.
Dee Dege
ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
: My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
: West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
: anyone else use the word.
: I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
: it being used and can give me the history of the word.
My grandfather also used the word - it meant "shouldn't" (possibly a
short form of "dare not"). Example, "I suppose we dassn't plow that
north field tomorrow; it looks as if it might rain." He was from central
Illinois; his father had walked to Illinois from Kentucky at the age of
twelve. Grandpa was born in the 1860s in Illinois.
--
Dee Dege (dd...@winternet.com)
------------------------------
Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person;
having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all
out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful
hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with
the breath of kindness, blow the rest away . --George Eliot
Terry Tiernan
<ra...@oregoncoast.com> wrote:
>My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
>West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
>me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
>anyone else use the word.
>
>I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
>it being used and can give me the history of the word.
Have heard it used in New England and the Maritimes a long time ago.
It was always in the context of "dare not". In your example, "Don't
you dare do that".
Terry Tiernan
ter...@mindspring.com
Virginia E Hench
bol...@richnet.com wrote:
: RA>My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
: RA>West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
: RA>me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
: RA>anyone else use the word.
: Hi Loretta,
: My grandparents used to use that term also. It was a contraction
: for "dare not". I never did understand how the "s" got into it.
: Bol
That's right - it is "dares not" --- roughly translates
to "Don't you dare"
Aloha - Ginny
wjack...@aol.com
Use of this term durong the 1930's must have been fairly widespread as
both my wife and I recall our parents using it when we were growing up in
Ontario Canada in the 1930's. From the usage I would guess it isa a
variant of "daren't".
Wes Jackson
Scarborough Ontario
Cheryl Singhal
KA>From: KA...@SoCA.com
KA> * From: Kate <KA...@SoCA.com>
KA> * Reply-To: KA...@SoCA.com
KA>ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
KA>>
KA>> My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
KA>> West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
KA>> me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
KA>> anyone else use the word.
KA>>
KA>> I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
KA>> it being used and can give me the history of the word.
KA>>
KA>> Thank you.
KA>>
KA>> Loretta
KA>I have always heard it as "daresn't" meaning you dare not do something.
KA>So if you were climbing that fence that you were many times told not to
KA>do they would say "You daresn't climb that fence."
KA> I always thought it was a "Pennsylvania Dutch" term.
I've heard it in the Eastern Panhandle of WV mid-1950s to present.
Dassn't means "dare not" there.
I have also seen it in some British novels, usually in those passages
involving the locals in one shire or the next (as opposed to the
Ox-Bridge set). Authors include Christie, Heyer, and Marsh.
* OLX 2.1 TD * Cheryl_...@cpafug.blkcat.com
Warren Austin Smith
Terry Tiernan wrote:
>
> <ra...@oregoncoast.com> wrote:
>
> >My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
I hate to confuse the issue (really, I don't). In the South, I've heard
both dasn't and daren't, and read both terms in Southern literature for
many, many years. That makes me suspect that it's
English/Irish/Scottish in origin.
austin smith
Neptune Beach, FL
BILL WATTS
-=> Quoting Kate to All <=-
Ka> ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
>
> My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
> West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
> me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
> anyone else use the word.
>
> I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
> it being used and can give me the history of the word.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Loretta
Ka> I have always heard it as "daresn't" meaning you dare not do
Ka> something. So if you were climbing that fence that you were many times
Ka> told not to do they would say "You daresn't climb that fence."
Ka> I always thought it was a "Pennsylvania Dutch" term.
My grandmother used it and she was a Cape Cod Yankee descended from
the Pilgrims.
... Bill Watts ex-Cape Codder bill....@filebank.cts.com
ra...@oregoncoast.com
CH>KA>From: KA...@SoCA.com
CH>KA> * From: Kate <KA...@SoCA.com>
CH>KA> * Reply-To: KA...@SoCA.com
CH>KA>ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
CH>KA>>
CH>KA>> My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
CH>KA>> West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
CH>KA>> me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
CH>KA>> anyone else use the word.
CH>KA>>
CH>KA>> I am interested in hearing from anyone who uses this term, or has heard
CH>KA>> it being used and can give me the history of the word.
CH>KA>>
CH>KA>> Thank you.
CH>KA>>
CH>KA>> Loretta
CH>KA>I have always heard it as "daresn't" meaning you dare not do something.
CH>KA>So if you were climbing that fence that you were many times told not to
CH>KA>do they would say "You daresn't climb that fence."
CH>KA> I always thought it was a "Pennsylvania Dutch" term.
CH>I've heard it in the Eastern Panhandle of WV mid-1950s to present.
CH>Dassn't means "dare not" there.
CH>I have also seen it in some British novels, usually in those passages
CH>involving the locals in one shire or the next (as opposed to the
CH>Ox-Bridge set). Authors include Christie, Heyer, and Marsh.
CH> * OLX 2.1 TD * Cheryl_...@cpafug.blkcat.com
Hi Cheryl,
Grandpa was of Pennsylvania Dutch descant, also English of PA. Thanks
for your reply.
Loretta
Donna Hurst
My grandmother said "dasn't." She lived 1890 - 1971 in Chautauqua
County, NY, and Erie County, PA. (This area is on Lake Erie, not in
"Pennsylvania Dutch" country.) It meant "dare not." The way I remember
hearing it used most frequently was in reprimanding children--e.g., "You
dasn't do that again or you'll have to sit in a corner." I assume it's
in the Dictionary of American Regional English.
Raymond & Sherri Hurst
I couldn't help but notice your last name...
My Hurst ancestors are from the south, and I currently live in the
Inland Empire
Let's talk
Raymond Hurst
Larry Thompson
The term isn't exactly obsolete, I have a neighbor (in his sixties) that
still uses the term frequently.
--
Larry Thompson
http://www.epix.net/~lt0168/index.html
Paul M. Gifford
In article <32B158...@pe.net> Raymond & Sherri Hurst <hu...@pe.net> writes:
>From: Raymond & Sherri Hurst <hu...@pe.net>
>Subject: Re: "Dasn't or Dassn't"
>Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 05:21:02 -0800
>I couldn't help but notice your last name...
>My Hurst ancestors are from the south, and I currently live in the
>Inland Empire
And my father was born in Sherman, Chautauqua Co., NY, and perhaps we
have some connections in Ripley and that area (names: Gifford, Hunt,
Wilcox, Palmer, Ireland).
Paul Gifford
Raymond & Sherri Hurst
As best I can tell, my Hursts are from TN/ARK/etc. in the early to mid
1800's.
Raymond
Fred Lawson
Hello All:
My parents came from England in the 1880s, and although I wasn't born until
the '30s the term "dasn't" was used regularly in our family, both by my
parents and my grandparents. The latter were Welsh. As a matter of fact,
I've even used it myself in recent years without realizing it......
We lived in Ontario, Canada.
The meaning was the same as that given by Kate.
Fred Lawson Pincourt, Quebec fla...@CAM.ORG
> > My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to
the
> > West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to
warn
> > me against misbehavior when I was a small child. I have never heard
> > anyone else use the word.
> Ka> I have always heard it as "daresn't" meaning you dare not do
> Ka> something. So if you were climbing that fence that you were many
times
> Ka> told not to do they would say "You daresn't climb that fence."
BluzeDom
R. Leutner wrote:
>
> Well, for what it's worth, David Hackett Fischer in the amazingly
> compendious _Albion's Seed_ does, in fact cite (p59) "darsn't" for dare
> not, found in a word list said to record the speech of the "typical
> Yankee" or "country Jonathan" in an 1893 New Hampshire local history. So
> it looks like it's not Texan or Wisconsin German alone! I'd venture a
> guess it's old enough the mysterious "s" might come from first person
> singular, i.e., "dassn't" and variations having something to do with "thou
> darest not." Now having just written that, I could swear I have read
> (though never heard) "durst" in some vaguely related context, but it's a
> hazy memory.
>
> Bob Leutner
> Iowa City IA
>
> On Sun, 8 Dec 1996, Robert J Pritzl wrote:
>
> > Helen Ruth wrote:
> > >
> > > ra...@oregoncoast.com wrote:
> > > >
> > > > West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
>
> > > However, he moved his family to central Texas in 1895 and I heard the
> > > term many times (obviously later than that) from several of the older
> > > persons - some of whom were born and raised in Texas. I have not heard
> > > it in many years.
> > >
> > I used to hear "dasn't" while I was growing up in Wisconsin in the
> > 1940's. (Predominantly German immigrant city).
> >
> > Bob P.
> >
> >
I have to agree with "dasn't" being the equivalent of "dare not". This
is how my mother used "dasn't" when I was growing up in Oklahoma, when
she was in a mood to slip into a silly mood (she takes pride in her
'proper' use of the English language!).
ewinner
Hi,
My grandmother, full German, born in Chicago, also said desn't do
that, all the time. Her mother said it too, but she came to Chicago
from Eastern Germany. I always thought it was spelled desn't, because
that the sound she made when she said it.
I have to tell you all, this is my first letter to this newsgroup, and
I am amazed at all the work you all put into this. I tried the
library in Salt Lake City, once, and that took me all day. You are
probably really prepared people.
Happy New Year To All, Stelle
norm...@gmail.com
> My grandfather was born in NW Indiana (LaPorte County) and moved to the
> West Coast in 1906. I remember him using the term "you dasn't" to warn
> anyone else use the word.
>
>
>
> Loretta
My uncle Joe, who grew up in a Jewish immigrant family in Rochester, NY in the 1920s, used the word frequently. He was not educated. In context, I thought it meant
shouldn't", but "dare not" makes perfectly good sense. I never heard anyone else use it.