A-scared

[HaskellGirl]

I have a question. Why does Beaver and all his pals say "a-scared" instead of "scared"? I know Beaver uses incorrect speech patterns at the beginning of the series, but so many other kids on the show use "a-scared" as well, for several years. I've never heard that said outside of Leave it to Beaver. I was wondering if that was a slang term in the 50's, or did the writers just go overboard by making all the kids say it that way?

[BBF]

Originally posted by HaskellGirl
I have a question. Why does Beaver and all his pals say "a-scared" instead of "scared"? I know Beaver uses incorrect speech patterns at the beginning of the series, but so many other kids on the show use "a-scared" as well, for several years. I've never heard that said outside of Leave it to Beaver. I was wondering if that was a slang term in the 50's, or did the writers just go overboard by making all the kids say it that way?

The only other place I've heard a-scared is on Rugrats! Chuckie always says "Hey Tommy, I'm a-scared!"
Something else they say on beaver is "you shouldn't oughta" I've never heard that outside LITB. They say "on account of" a lot too, but that must have been a 50's thing, because my grandma still says that!

[buddy love]

I used to do it too and I was a child of the 70's. I think we confuse afraid and scared and sometimes it comes out a-scared.

[FOL85NatandMrsGRock]

i STILL use a-scared and i'm 17!!!! hahah, it was just a thing that i always used to say, but i don't think i ever noticed them say it on leave it to beaver, and on the count of is definately a 50's -70's slang term, cuz i've heard that on a million tv shows that were around those times! :)

And Brit, as soon as i read the title, i thought of rugrats too! :)

[HaskellGirl]

Wow, it never even occurred to me that "a-scared" was a combination of "afraid" and "scared". Like I said, I never heard that outside Leave it to Beaver, so I just assumed the writers made it up as another one of the baby-talk Beaver used in the beginning. That's why I thought it so strange that his friends used the same word, since they usually had better language skills. Luckily Beaver and everyone else stopped saying it when they got older. The thing that surprised me is that Wally and Beaver, even when he was very young, would use the word "liable". I'm not sure if I spelled it correctly, but they would say things like "He's liable to..." whatever, which is something you don't hear kids today say.

On the New Leave it to Beaver, I don't know if they ever used "a-scared", but the little kids used "Not never", "shouldn't oughta" or other forms of double negatives, "on account of" and the word "gyp", which I guess is a carry over from the 50s.

[BBF]

Originally posted by FOL85NatandMrsGRock

And Brit, as soon as i read the title, i thought of rugrats too! :)

I swear Sarah, we think EXACTLY the same way...It's so weird...:confused: :dizzy:

[FOL85NatandMrsGRock]

Haha Brit, hey, i LOVE the hat check pic! i wanna add it, but i think i'm going to work on my siggy, so perhaps i'll add it! she's soooo pretty there!!!

[BBF]

So you like my siggy, huh Sarah? I LOVE it now! This is the way I've wanted it, but I had no idea how to center and marquee text until Jo's The Bomb so graciously told me how! I am so happy with my siggy now! I know I say this ALL the time, but I am seriously not going to change it for a while. (except for possibly some minor color changes and stuff). I am just delighted with my siggy.:) :) :) :) :)

[tdr]

I think putting a simple vowel sound at the beginning of a word is a holdover going back to earlier dialects of English. It is still used correctly in a few words, such as "afresh" and "anew." If you have ever studied some of the old ballads, for instance, most of which are from northern England or southern Scotland, quite a few of the words do this... "a-sailing, a-coming...." In American, some of the Appalachian Southern or the "dryland" dialects used this in more words..."a-ridin' to town;" "a-havin' a good time" The unnecessary prefix is mostly slang, but what is or is not 'proper' English does change with time and with geography.

Incidentally, Beaver's grammar seems to have been cleaned up quite a bit after the first season. I can only remember him saying "ain't" in the first season eps [e.g., "There ain't gonna be no 'tricity."] I have sometimes wondered if instead of simply 'maturing' Beaver a little bit, the writers had him speaking better because of complaints, perhaps from teachers or parents. All through the series they kept some terms kids may be expected to use [creep, 'neat,' hunk, 'go ape'], but they seldom uttered the kind of slang that really horrified many learned adults then... "ain't," and double negatives ["not goin' nowhere"], and the right use of teach/learn, let/leave, et al.