Will-eez or Will-‘is ?

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Having grown up in the 60s in drag strip pits … (my crib was wrapped baby blankets on the the race car tow truck’s leather front seat – went to my first drag race at two weeks old as I am told) …

… and dad ran a ’41 Willys A/gas undefeated for years back then …

I found an interesting quirk in pronunciation depending on the location of the drag racing strips.

JC Sizemore (of the famous Goldenrod), my dad, and every body else in the Southeast (and pretty much all over the “South”) pronounced WILLYS as “will’is” … That is, ‘is as in the word “isthmus” … the short vowel sound of the i …

The further up north you go, it was “will-eez” … as in a possessive form of “Willy” –

As in “Willy’s car” … but the apostrophe is dropped in the car name. WILLYS …

But it’s important to know – that if one has “the willys” (will-eez) down here …

Well, let’s just say it means something else ;-)

Is this why the car make was pronounced “WILL-IS” by the racers themselves? Could be.

Perhaps WILLYS should have went with the spelling WILLIS back then instead of just dropping the apostrophe?

Bottom line is – with my fascination of dialects and language as it applies to my profession, it is always interesting to find a word or term that illustrates a person’s origin.

Other than that – the pre-war Willys is the sexiest car ever designed. And that made it the best for a gasser!

JC Sizemore (a great friend – God rest his soul) had a pre-war Willys van he turned into a gasser. I have his original photos of when he found it rusting and then turned it into quite the monster gasser. I was trusted with his original 8mm home movies which I digitized frame by frame for an upcoming feature doc … stay tuned !

So – I choose to say “WILL-IS” …

Just as I say PEECAN for pecan … NOT “puh-con” …

Although it is actually and properly pronounced; “PEK-AN” …

Reminds me of an old joke … ask me next time you see me.

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Category: Tony Rollo Blog