Flashes of Panic

I got mail today addressed to “Amhurst, MA,” which amused me. This, I thought to myself, is what comes of pronouncing the “h,” an affectation, I baselessly suspect, of those who fancy themselves “born to the broad A and flattened R” of Harvard, as Kenneth Roberts put it. (In fairness to that institution, the stereotype fit much better in Roberts’ day, ninety years ago, than it does now. And when my father and I get going in our native dialect, we broaden and flatten a heck of a lot more than As and Rs.)

On the other hand, it might just indicate an ignorance of the details of North American history. If you’d never heard of the man who had towns named after him in more than one northeastern colony (New York and New Hampshire as well,) it would be perfectly reasonable to assume we’re a “hurst” like all the others, albeit with a very short prefix.

Now playing: Free Will from Night Opens by Rich Price