Shawn Huelle

the Bavarian dialect drops almost all word endings

Yesterday, while driving around, I saw a license plate holder with the word "Mizzou" on it. Ignoring, for the time being, the fact that I have no idea where that word came from, why it has two Zs in it, or even how it is used, it made me think about how some people say "missou-ree," and others say "missou-ruh." It occurred to me that this difference is almost entirely a function of what some people would call comfortableness and others would call laziness: More muscle work is required to say "missou-ree." Try it. When you say, "missou-ree," your mouth remains tight at the end of the word, but when you say "missou-ruh," your mouth forgoes that extra bit of work, giving new meaning to the term "slackjawed."

Is it an accepted fact or an unfortunate bit of prejudiced myth that because southern climates are generally warmer, the people who live in them can't be bothered to move their mouths and lips more than absolutely necessary?

Perhaps the word "Mizzou" exists simply as a compromise between the "ree" and "ruh" camps.