Quote:
Originally Posted by BenG
Wikipedia has an article on Br'er Rabbit:
Disney probably had a big influence on how people today pronounce it. |
Well, that article kills my theory. Damn. So, "Buh" (which is probably where Bubba came from) was the original pronunciation. Interesting. Yes, I'm sure that Disney had a lot of influence about the word. Although, James Basket pretty much made up the character of Uncle Remus as he went along. The general belief is that he required virtually no direction, and told the stories as they had been told to him. So, I would guess that he must have been from a part of the South (if he was from the South at all), where they do pronounce the second "r".
And .... a little research indicates that he was born in Indianapolis, Indiana .... so there's the beginning of the modern pronunciation of Br'er. The actor wasn't raised in the South. It's funny .... I went to the plantation (in Louisiana) where all the Uncle Remus stories supposedly began. I believe the place was called "Laura Plantation" ... and, of course, they all now say "Brair."