I didn’t see the punchline coming when John told what happened during choir rehearsal. For your information, John was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, so he is New York through and through. The choir is made up of Southerners and Mid-Westerners. When John came home, he told the story over a cup of coffee.
A choir member, knowing singers should be precise, asked about the pronunciation of “the”. Should it be “the” or “thee” in this instance? Grammar-minded people discussed the context and began to explain the reasoning.
John simply said, “In Brooklyn, it would be DA.”
I nearly snorted my coffee through my nose. John was our executive choir director for 25 years, and he would have sung the “the” correctly without thinking twice about it. His comment certainly caught me off-guard.
Mehrling Muse 
Love it! We have these discussions from time to time in my choir in central Illinois — one time the question was whether it should be “thuh angels” or “thee angels,” and I suggested a Midwestern congregation might understand “them angels” better than either one.
LikeLiked by 3 people
No!!!! I would have fallen off my chair with that.
LikeLike
Thank you for this story. I keep smiling and really like this guy; John.
As to your discussion I am used to the ” Thee” in old songs and texts. I do live in England though. 🙂
miriam
LikeLike
Our good choirs follow the English tradition for diction. We lived in Surrey 1980-1982 and went to as many cathedrals as we could. My part of heaven is going to sound like that.
LikeLike
That’s too funny–I laughed at da post!
LikeLike
John read it and thought no one would understand the Brooklyn context. You did!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh da Angels! lol Love it!
LikeLike
John is going to snicker at your “da Angels”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Da funny is strong in that one!
LikeLike
Wow! People do understand Brooklynese!! John thought not many would get it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Who dat in chair? Oh yeah, John! Dialects are fun!
LikeLike
John can put on several thick NY accents.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a friend whose brother married a woman from England. My friend got the cockney accent down pat. She would have us in hysterics!
LikeLike
Accents are fun. I always chatted with the butcher whose shop was a short walk from our house in England. One day when I went in, he was talking with a friend. I listened to both of them and wondered if they were speaking English. I don’t know that it was Cockney, but the accent came from London. It was totally unintelligible to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I could barely understand anything she said. The first part of the word gets sort of chopped off. Hysterical!
LikeLiked by 1 person
John was razor sharp that day. I dare say you need to be on your guard when he’s on form.
xxx Gigantic Hugs xxx
LikeLike
John makes me laugh often, but this was a side-splitter.
xxx Snickering Hugs xxx
LikeLike
funny- I have a friend from NY- he puts gas in a cah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is funny. I miss the accents from Long Island — home for 50 years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love his humor!! This is a funny story! 😊💗
LikeLike
He can pop funny things out in a split second.
LikeLike
There is a streak of crazy running through both of you. Why not? Life is short.
LikeLike
We laugh a lot. Other people probably laugh AT us.
LikeLike
How boring this world would be if we all spoke and enunciated the exact same way – John was quick on his feet and had a winning answer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very funny!! Go John!! My mother in law and hubby are from White Plains and even though they’ve been here in Cali over 50 years, when she gets excited, it’s NY all the way. Russ can’t resist mimicking her. He, of course is accent free. When I was in AL, I had to get used to the drawl, but they all that it was I that had one.
LikeLike
Most of us don’t lose our accents quickly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this Anne. I think the whole post byoo-dee-full…by the way that’s Philly talk for beautiful. I don’t think I have an accent, but my sister who moved to NC, says we all really do…she notices our Philly-talk that she’s been away for longer than she lived here. Even though we live in South Jersey, we talk like we live in Philadelphia.
LikeLike
And I sure need to read proofread before I hit post. Grrrr….meant to say NOW that she’s been away.
LikeLike
I don’t notice mistakes, especially after midnight.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope I never tire of noticing accents.
LikeLiked by 1 person
HAHAHA – that’s hilarious!
I always thought it should be “thee” when just before a word that starts with a vowel. No?
My John *also* sings in a choir, in fact he’s at practice as I write this, they’re doing a cantata on Saturday night at the church. I’ll ask him about ‘the’ and ‘thee’ – if I remember! 😉
LikeLike
You are right about the “the” and “thee”. As native speakers, we don’t notice that we are following the rule until somebody breaks it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I asked my John about “the & thee” and he said I’m right, although there are “occasionally exceptions”!
LikeLike
First exception to come to mind is “thee honor” and “thee hour had come”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok – but: “the holy object.”
LikeLike