Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
toidy-toid and toid (New York accent)
English answer:
Thirty-third and Third Avenue (New York)
Added to glossary by
María Teresa Taylor Oliver
Aug 26, 2005 17:46
19 yrs ago
English term
Panama
Synesthete with a flair for tasty words!
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Costa Rican, Panamanian, Nicaraguan, Mexican, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Cuban, Honduran, Argentine, US, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, Latin American, Colombian) 
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish
toidy-toid and toid
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
I'm reading a Nelson DeMille novel about a New York policeman who is recovering from gunshot wounds on the North Fork of Long Island.
This passage describes how John, the cop, is riding in a car with another cop, a woman, who is driving.
Suddenly, the woman says, apropos of nothing:
-We're approaching toidy-toid and toid.
And the cop responds:
-I do *not* speak with that kind of accent. I do *not* find that amusing.
-I hear ya.
By the way, this cop is kind of a joker (I love DeMille's characters, they're always fun to "get to know").
I suppose she's making fun of his NY accent, and the only thing I can think of it's that it means "thirty-third", but I'd like to be sure.
Thanks!
This passage describes how John, the cop, is riding in a car with another cop, a woman, who is driving.
Suddenly, the woman says, apropos of nothing:
-We're approaching toidy-toid and toid.
And the cop responds:
-I do *not* speak with that kind of accent. I do *not* find that amusing.
-I hear ya.
By the way, this cop is kind of a joker (I love DeMille's characters, they're always fun to "get to know").
I suppose she's making fun of his NY accent, and the only thing I can think of it's that it means "thirty-third", but I'd like to be sure.
Thanks!
Responses
| 4 +21 | Thirty-third and Third Avenue |
Kim Metzger
|
| 5 +9 | 33rd and 3rd |
tazdog (X)
|
| 4 +2 | intersection of Thirty-third and Third streets |
Anne Spitzmueller
|
Responses
+21
7 mins
Kim Metzger
Mexico
Mexico
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Mexico
Committed to Quality and Service
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
277
Selected
Thirty-third and Third Avenue
Yes, you're right. It's a Brooklyn accent.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2005-08-26 17:57:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I stand corrected:
---
New Yorkers have the Irish to thank for their now famous "toity-toid ohn toid". A Hofstra University professor, Francis Griffith, attributes New Yorkese speakers' habit of interchanging the diphthong "oi" with "er" to Gaelic language.
The general notion is that each borough has a distinct accent. This would mean that there is a Brooklyn accent, as opposed to Bronx accent; and that there is a Manhattan, a Queens and a Staten Island accent.
This means that there is no such thing as Bronx accent or a Brooklyn accent. The variations in New York accent is actually more a result of the ethnic roots of the waves of immigrants that settled in the city, starting with the Dutch, the Irish, the Italian and the European Jews . All these influences ganged up and gave New York its distinctive accent. So New Yorkese speakers either have an Italian-American, Irish-American or Yiddish-American accent.
http://www.nyc24.org/2003/issue3/story5/page2.html
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2005-08-26 17:57:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I stand corrected:
---
New Yorkers have the Irish to thank for their now famous "toity-toid ohn toid". A Hofstra University professor, Francis Griffith, attributes New Yorkese speakers' habit of interchanging the diphthong "oi" with "er" to Gaelic language.
The general notion is that each borough has a distinct accent. This would mean that there is a Brooklyn accent, as opposed to Bronx accent; and that there is a Manhattan, a Queens and a Staten Island accent.
This means that there is no such thing as Bronx accent or a Brooklyn accent. The variations in New York accent is actually more a result of the ethnic roots of the waves of immigrants that settled in the city, starting with the Dutch, the Irish, the Italian and the European Jews . All these influences ganged up and gave New York its distinctive accent. So New Yorkese speakers either have an Italian-American, Irish-American or Yiddish-American accent.
http://www.nyc24.org/2003/issue3/story5/page2.html
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I'd forgotten I had this question open!! Thank you all for you excellent answers and references!! :) By the way, this is the first question I grade while using the new layout, so I apologize in advance if I do something wrong!"
+9
7 mins
33rd and 3rd
That's what it means.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2005-08-26 17:55:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
OT: See ADS-L archives for "Thirty-Third and Third" or "toidy toid 'n toid"--ed.):
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0406C&L=ad...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2005-08-26 17:55:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
OT: See ADS-L archives for "Thirty-Third and Third" or "toidy toid 'n toid"--ed.):
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0406C&L=ad...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Enza Longo
7 mins
|
| agree |
Rachel Fell
23 mins
|
| agree |
sporran
1 hr
|
| agree |
Elizabeth Lyons
7 hrs
|
| agree |
Robert Donahue (X)
7 hrs
|
| agree |
KathyT
12 hrs
|
| agree |
Saiwai Translation Services
15 hrs
|
| agree |
awilliams
19 hrs
|
| agree |
airmailrpl
: -
2 days 12 hrs
|
+2
13 mins
Anne Spitzmueller
Germany
Germany
Germany
Let your brand message shine in German
Native in: German
Works in: English to German
intersection of Thirty-third and Third streets
intersection of Thirty-third and Third streets
Back at that Brooklyn accent, the standard example is the pronunciation "Toidy- Toid and Toid" for the intersection of Thirty-third and Third streets. In truth, this particular "sound" is nearly extinct in New York. This sort of speech was so mercilessly parodied in movies, radio and TV that it came to be stigmatized as a badge of low breeding and lack of sophistication. Ironically, in an attempt to correct their pronunciation of "oi" in phrases like "Toidy-toid," many New Yorkers carried the process too far (a process linguists call "hypercorrection"). Today it's common to hear Brooklynites pronounce the word "toilet" as "terlet," and while you Bostonians may "boil" an egg, in Brooklyn they "berl" it.
Back at that Brooklyn accent, the standard example is the pronunciation "Toidy- Toid and Toid" for the intersection of Thirty-third and Third streets. In truth, this particular "sound" is nearly extinct in New York. This sort of speech was so mercilessly parodied in movies, radio and TV that it came to be stigmatized as a badge of low breeding and lack of sophistication. Ironically, in an attempt to correct their pronunciation of "oi" in phrases like "Toidy-toid," many New Yorkers carried the process too far (a process linguists call "hypercorrection"). Today it's common to hear Brooklynites pronounce the word "toilet" as "terlet," and while you Bostonians may "boil" an egg, in Brooklyn they "berl" it.
Reference:
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kirill Semenov
7 mins
|
|
Spassibo, bolschoje! :-)
|
|
| neutral |
Can Altinbay
: Not quite. 33rd street and 3rd avenue.
34 mins
|
|
right, Can ;-)
|
|
| agree |
airmailrpl
: 33rd street and 3rd avenue
2 days 12 hrs
|
|
thanks :-)
|
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