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"Out a" vs "Outta".

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

A certain author, whose work I love, due the unique, easily identifiable character's voice, wrote "When I got out a the truck". That's a deep Souther USA expression, which I've grown up and lived in. But the expression isn't "out a", it's "outta", as it's spoken as a single utterance, which the South is renowned for.

The particular author doesn't allow feedback, but it's always helpful to point out these types of things, as you never know when you'll write either a Southerner story or a Southerner character. So it's hardy keeping it in your pocket till you'll need it.

That said, this is the first time he's gotten a 'Southernism' wrong, as he's got a decent feel for the localism (how languages tend to vary from one area to another).

And for the author, this isn't a criticism, merely an observation to help others, so you can do with it what you will. It didn't make me outta the tale, other than the time it took posting it here. (It was in Chapter 27, by the way.)

By the way, I don't speak southern anymore, yet I'm more than familiar with it.

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

Hmm, Interesting. Personally, I would associate 'outta' more with the northeast, particularly New Jersey.

Replies:   Crumbly Writer
Crumbly Writer ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

Yep, those regional usages are similar in certain ways, as I've lived in both. So I suspect it's a matter of who migrated to which location

Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

That's a deep Souther USA expression

I grew up in NYC using "outta." Like "gonna," "wanna," "whatcha," etc.

Replies:   Mat Twassel
Mat Twassel ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

In Joisey you might hear it "oudda."

Replies:   Switch Blayde
Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ

@Mat Twassel

In Joisey you might hear it "oudda."

I remember meeting a staff member when I took a new job in Arizona. Her name was Brenda. I wasn't new to Arizona but she told me I pronounced her name like Billy Joel (in the song "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant") where he pronounced Brenda in "Brenda and Eddie" as Brender.

So, yeah, I might think "outta" but say "oudda."

jimq2 ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

I don't have an accent, you do! I spent my formative years in western Pennsylvania, and then the northeast with all my summers in Virginia. Just imaging my middle school teachers trying to correct my western PA/VA pronunciation. The combined influences frequently have people asking if I'm from the Toronto area.

REP ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

I think this is a regional matter.

I think i am at least reasonably proficient in US English and I never heard of 'otta'. I use 'out of''.

awnlee jawking ๐Ÿšซ

@REP

I believe 'outta' is a transliteration of a dialect version of 'out of'.

AJ

Replies:   Switch Blayde
Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@awnlee jawking

I believe 'outta' is a transliteration of a dialect version of 'out of'.

Contraction is probably the wrong word, but it's more of a contraction. Actually, a bastardization or slurring of words. Probably from speaking fast which is why I would have expected it more in NYC than the South.

Outta, gonna, wanna, whatcha, gotta, sorta, gotcha

ETA: Looking at the words that came to me, do all of these things end with an "a"?

helmut_meukel ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

Outta, gonna, wanna, whatcha, gotta, sorta, gotcha

Seems in most cases to be contractions with either 'of' or 'to' or in the -cha cases with 'you'.
outta = out of;
sorta = sort of;
kinda = kind of;

gonna = going to;
hafta = have to;
gotta = got to;
wanna = want to (I wanna go home!)
or want a (I wanna puppy!);

gotcha = got you;
whatcha, actually three different contractions, always with 'you':
what + are + you (Whatcha doin'? or Whatcha talking 'bout?)
what +โ€Ž have +โ€Ž you (Whatcha been up to?)
what +โ€Ž do +โ€Ž you (Whatcha think? or Whatcha wanna do now?)
As you can see above I found two more: kinda and hafta, but I guess there are a few more.
Seems all those we found got slurred to ending with an 'a'.

HM.

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

When you think 'Southern', think more Alabama than Texas, Florida or Nevada, which are mostly white conservatives, while Alabama natives are mostly dirt-poor, raised under an apartheid system of subpar education and few opportunities.

Thus the 'Southern' utterances are more based on an enforced lack of education than an informed knowledge of established grammatical history.

The thing with 'melting pots' is that all those different elements tend to blend together, so one is largely the same or similar to all the others, rather than how each is treated/seasoned-to-taste by the cook.

Growing up in a military family, where we moved every two years, I was raised among many different linguistic communities, yet sought to speak with one voice (a northern one, where I believe the best opportunities lay), whereas my brother took the opposite tact, adapting rapidly to each place he lived, speaking fluidly like a native almost immediately.

Sadly, I think the rest of the family, including me, has influenced him more than his experiences have, since it's difficult moving away from when you built your career where your family lives.

ptm042 ๐Ÿšซ

@REP

"Otta" as in 'I ought to' do something.....I outa do it.

Replies:   helmut_meukel
helmut_meukel ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@ptm042

Otta" as in 'I ought to' do something.....I outa do it.

I just saw it printed in a book, but spelled 'oughta'. (The Warp and the Weft by Laurence Dahners). The MC Ryn Wilkie uses those contractions a lot. Born in North Carolina, she works as a resident surgeon in the university hospital in Chapel Hills, NC.

HM.

ETA: the first two times I read the book I didn't realize how heavily she uses these contractions, but now after this thread rereading the story it caught my attention.

Replies:   Switch Blayde
Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ

@helmut_meukel

but spelled 'oughta'.

"Outta" and "oughta" are different.

"Get out of here." (outta)

"You ought to go straight home." (oughta)

Replies:   helmut_meukel
helmut_meukel ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

I know this but I answered to a posting of @ptm042 who had written (and I cited it):

Otta" as in 'I ought to' do something.....I outa do it.

So @ptm042 โ€“ not I โ€“ used two different incorrect spellings for the 'I ought to' contraction.

HM.

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@REP

True, as indicated, it supposedly began as a 'Southernism', which was transplanted during the 'Great Southern Migration', six to seven decades ago. And now is actively reversing in places like Georgia, as the people raised in the north and deciding to return to the South, looking for better opportunities.

As always, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

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