Anthère wrote in very small part: | >what does "purty" means ? | | Toby wrote: It's a humorous or derogatory spelling of "pretty", | which implies that the speaker is unsophisticated. | Mispronouncing "pretty" as "purty" /'p@rti/ (see [[SAMPA Chart]]) | is similar to mispronouncing "nuclear" as "nucular" /'nuwkj@l@r/. | Such pronunciation has even become standard in the case of "iron", | which is pronounced "iurn" /'aj@rn/ even by educated speakers.
Toby is once again, dead wrong. The proper incorrect spelling for "pretty" is "purdy" -- with a "D"... I'm compiling my sources now...
-S