Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Little Lord Fauntleroy: Mary's English.

Mary is the old servant of Cedric's mum and her English is hard of me.
Chapter one: A great surprise
"And, indade" said Mary to the grocery-man, "nobody cud help laughin' a the
quare little ways of him - and his ould-faschioned sayin's! Didn't he come
into my kitchen the noight the new prisident was nominated and shtand afore
the fire, lookin' loike a pictur', wid his hands in his shmall pockets, an'
his innocent bit of a face as sayrious as a jedge? An' sez he to me: ^ Mary,
^ sez he, ^ I'm very much int'rusted in the 'lection, " sez he. ^ I'm a
'publican, an' so is Dearest. Are you a 'publican Mary? ^ Sorra a bit, sez
I; "I'm the bist o' dimmycrats" An' he looks up at me with a look that ud go
to yer heart, and sez he ^ Mary, " sez he, ^ the country will go to ruin ^.
An' nivver a day since this has he let go by widout agryin' wid me to change
me polytics"
And now what is unknown to me:
a the quare little ways of him            (quare? Is it queer? So the
sentence could
be " nobody could help laughing "a the" queer little ways of him"
Meaningless
for me... No way of gettin out, throw me a rope please :).
That's all... writing it on this message helped me understandin it :).
Where is Mary from? Germany? Is that English a kind of "Germish"? Or does
the speech sound Black American English (It does not seem that) Or is it
only
a poor English, typical of the uncultured people? Or is it a dialect?
Sebastiano, a reader full of dubts :)
--
POPPER HT-GROUP - #167 deI FeSTosi
Min Côr a thorthad hain phain, Min Côr a chiriad hain,
Min Côr a theged hain a nedhi vorn gweded hain


Just a guess: she might be Irish (loik, noight, me politics..they
sound a lot like Irish to me)
+--
I know you can't speak, I know you can't sign
So cry right here on the dotted line

 sound a lot like Irish to me)
Well, Irish sound is someting I have no idea about. So, if it seems to be
Irish, it
could be. :).
No Ideas about the "quare" ? ;)
Sebastiano
--
POPPER HT-GROUP - #167 deI FeSTosi
" I'm a 'publican, an' so is Dearest. Are you a 'publican Mary? "
" Sorra a bit," sez I; " I'm the bist o' dimmycrats! "

 a poor English, typical of the uncultured people? Or is it a dialect?
First, it looks _very_ irish to me. I've just read a book (Angela's ashes)
that's full of irish dialogues, and it really sounds the same way
(especially sentences like "I'm the bist o' dimmycrats"). I can't be sure
(not a native speaker, doh), but I'd bet money.
As for the meaning, I'd read it as "nobody could help laughing [everybody
couldn't help laughing] at the queer little ways of him". Now, "queer"
(besides "gay") also means "odd", so "queer little ways of him" is the same
of "his odd manners", "his odd behaviour". In the book I read, people were
always chattering about the odd manners of other people, so my translation
sounds feasable at least.
Giovanni Bajo

a poor English, typical of the uncultured people? Or is it a dialect?
I've not read the book, but I would suggest that Mary is Irish.  The
words will be represented how they sound to an English speaker, plus the
construction will be that of Irish dialect, for example, in place of a
simple "yes" or "no", you may see either "I will" or "I will not" or
full affirmative or negative sentences.
Cheers
-- 
John G Davies

No Ideas about the "quare" ? ;)
Ma certo!
Basti pensare alla cosiddetta "the quare of the square", una statua colorata
di Oscar Wilde in Merrion Sq., a Dublino.
Paolo

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 Hope this helps.
A lot, thanks.
Sebastiano

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