fault - From Ulster to America
Source: From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English
Author: Michael Montgomery
Comments: From Ulster to America recounts the lasting impact eighteenth-century settlers from Ulster have made on the development of the English language of the United States. The book documents over 500 vocabulary items contributed to American English by these ‘Scotch-Irish’ settlers. Each ‘shared’ term with its meaning is authenticated by quotations from both sides of the Atlantic. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from the dictionary part of the second edition published by the Ullans Press in 2017.
fault, falt vb To find fault with, blame, criticize. [oed fault vb 7 ‘to blame or censure’; dare fault vb B ‘to criticize, blame, scold’ chiefly South Midland]
Ulst.:
1880 Patterson Antrim/Down Glossary 37 fault = to blame.
1915 MacGill Rat Pit 17 You shouldn’t fault me for my sin, said the beanscho.
1934 Cavanagh Dunleary Legend 88 Thim same cakes was well mashed up wid the hurry of his ride, but sure the childer never faulted thim for that.
1953 Traynor Donegal Glossary 99 fault = to blame, to find fault with.
2014 Fenton Hamely Tongue 259 In troth A cannae falt him for daein whut he did.
U.S.:
1896 Word-list 416 = blame: ‘I didn’t fault him for that’.
1913 Kephart Our Sthn High 282 In mountain vernacular many words that serve as verbs are only nouns of action, or adjectives, or even adverbs … ‘Granny kept faultin’ us all day’.
1928 (in 1952 Mathes Tall Tales 65) They ain’t no use faultin’ the boy fer somethin’ he ain’t to blame fer.
c1959 Weals Hillbilly Dict 4 fault = blame: ‘I don’t fault you fer the cow gittin’ out’.
1962 Dykeman Tall Woman 166 ‘She’s always faulting herself for her cooking’, Paul teased.
Purchase From Ulster to America
The second, revised edition of Michael Montgomery’s From Ulster to America is now available here:
From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English (Europe)
From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English (North America)
