User:Getwood/Sandbox/chaps

(Welcome. This is a work in progress.  I have started by adding references which had not been cited on chaps, its discussion page, or Wikipedia_talk:Requests_for_mediation/Chaps.  This list is incomplete, and the following is compiled by an amateur.  It is also currently biased towards the "shaps" pronunciation, which happened mainly to prove a point. I think it is interesting, and maybe one day it should grow up to be its own real wikipage.)

The "shaps" spelling
I am not a linguist, but I have read that the (mis)spellings of the past are invaluable in determining early pronunciations. The "shaps" spelling of the word has been largely ignored for the most part in this debate up until now. In fact, I'm not convinced that "chaps" was the more widespread spelling initially. This is seen in Teddy Roosevelt's memoirs, texts written by British adventurists, and many others. Two cowboy/artist/authors from the Northwestern US used the "shaps" spelling. Will James used it as his standard spelling; Charlie Russell used "chaps" in typical prose, but "shaps" in dialog to impart the full color of his characters. The dictionary of slang, jargon and cant from 1890 had no entry for "chaps" but did for "shaps." Webster's 1913 edition also lists "shaps" as an entry, as do several other early dictionaries.

Modern cowboys
Many groups of modern cowboys say ʃæps. The Library of Congress had a large project in the 80s interviewing "buckaroos in paradise." From this oral history, a glossary was formed with, yes, the sh pronunciation only. The Professional Bull Riders association web site lists one pronunciation. In fact (for those wanting a more global view), so does the New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Manufacturers of chaps
Manufacturers and vendors of chaps for western riders, as well as at least one vendor of motorcycle chaps, designate a "shaps" pronunciation.

Location
Arizona, Nevada , Oregon, California , Idaho , North Dakota , Utah , Oklahoma , New Mexico , Texas , Minnesota , Pennsylvania , Virginia , Alberta , New Zealand, Northwest Territories

Working cowboys

Rodeo   ,

Shaps spelling       ,

Motorcycle ,

Definition , Shibboleth

Date: 1889, 1890, 1900 , 1902 , 1913 , 1916 , 1917 , 1945 , 1982, 1995 , 1996 , 2001  , 2002  , 2004  , 2005  , 2007    , 2008

British authors

dictionaries/glossaries
"Chaps- Protective leather coverings for the legs Pronounced 'shaps'"

Blogs/personal websites/auctions
{| class="prettytable collapsible collapsed" style="width:70%" !unprocessed links
 * -style="width:70%
 * http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=1751

http://www.cowboypoetry.com/fletcher.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=7eZMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA481&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=Wxz8R5eDM4aqtgP-47w2

http://books.google.com/books?id=5tFAAAAAIAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=TB38R4OzG4XasQPU9MA8&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=a-ZEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA408&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=jx78R92qKp6ctAPt1qE9

http://www.cowboyshowcase.com/glossary%20personalgear.htm

http://www.cowboy-spurs.com/search/chaps

http://groups.msn.com/RoughCompanyBullriders/rodeogear.msnw

http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/104.3/wilder.html (no pronunciation)

http://books.google.com/books?id=qvAIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA844&lpg=PA844&dq=dictionary+shaps&source=web&ots=DOFVJCHDOn&sig=tS5Z29Qe_OurqhYMRActZXHR2dQ&hl=en (different definition for shaps)

http://books.google.com/books?id=fgMMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA49&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=9Rv8R-e0Jqj4tAPuvpg8

http://www.mopsquad.com/misc/pbr/equipment.htm (repeat wording)

http://books.google.com/books?id=tpUOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1893&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=XB78R4uKE4vWtgPQ19Q6

http://books.google.com/books?id=cEwvAAAAMAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=xx38R-KrMZOKsgOcteQz&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=qv87AAAAMAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=Ehz8R7PmIYjgsQOyn9wv&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=zz1EAAAAIAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=OR38R9D4NJS0tAOPr7A4&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ofc0AAAAMAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=TB38R4OzG4XasQPU9MA8&pgis=1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spurmarks/sets/72157600545348765/

http://books.google.com/books?id=NOYTAAAAYAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=xx38R-KrMZOKsgOcteQz&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=tiRFAAAAIAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=oR38R7PwI5GMtAOqm6ku&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZXYAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA835&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=OR38R9D4NJS0tAOPr7A4

http://books.google.com/books?id=R3zdIavVxUcC&pg=PA69&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=xx38R-KrMZOKsgOcteQz&sig=iV1xPmOOEybbtFbmwjcPw1qJfPk

http://thewesterner.blogspot.com/archives/2005_02_06_thewesterner_archive.html

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-sI5.BMcrafAt6QHV8KQ-?cq=1&p=2289

http://books.google.com/books?id=iVxAAAAAIAAJ&q=%22shaps%22&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=vRz8R7KVNpyStwPBstg4&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=L01D4P1cYZYC&pg=PA129&dq=%22shaps%22&lr=&ei=ORz8R_jzC5nstAPi2sQ4&sig=co3xurv_f1r-T1yA32oY5H4HUWQ

http://books.google.com/books?lr=&ei=KBv8R7m8GZ2YtAOX6tgx&id=8eYTAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22shaps%22&q=%22shaps%22&pgis=1

http://examinedlife.typepad.com/johnbelle/2004/09/short_cuts.html

From Dreadstar on Words and Ways of American English, by Thomas Pyles, 1952, "Chaps, sometimes spelled and pronounced shaps" Every-day Pronunciation, by Robert Palfrey Utter, 1918, "In the United States, the garment is known as chaps or shaps where it is used." Pennsylvania Dutch: A Dialect of South German with an Infusion of English, by Samuel Stehman Haldeman, 1872, "English Ch remains in catch, child, chaps (and shaps), fetch, sooch, mooch; and it becomes sh in ..." The Horseman's Dictionary, by Lida (Fleitman) Bloodgood, Piero Santini, 1964, "Shaps: See Chaps." Roget's Thesaurus of the English Language in Dictionary Form, 1940, "chaps (colloq.), shaps (Western US)" Publication of the American Dialect Society, "chaps (frequently shaps) in the popular speech of Colorado" La lengua española en la historia de California, by Antonio Blanco Sánchez, 1971, "shaps, 1930; chaps 1912;"

<!-- Journal

Book

Web

The use of the term chaps by non-chapwearers for pronunciation is a bit problematic. I understand that dictionaries and encyclopedias are meant to be descriptive, but this can go too far. Bill Bryson describes
 * " [t] he most notorious example of the descriptive school was the 1961 Webster's Third New International Dictionary..., whose editor, Philip Grove believed that distinctions of usage were elitist and artificial. As a result, usages such as imply as a synonym for infer and flout being used in the sense of flaunt were included without comment."