FORENSIC LINGUISTICS—DEVIL STRIPS.

FORENSIC LINGUISTCS—DEVIL STRIPS. I learned from Sager’s article that there is a specialty dealing with forensic linguistics. Sager tells about a ransom note which directed that the ransom be put in “the green trash kan on the devil strip” at an intersection. Roger Shuy, a forensic linguist, recognized that “devil strip” occurs only in a microaccent centered around Akron, Ohio, an insight which enabled the police to focus on the kidnaper. A “devil strip” in the Akron area refers to the grassy area between a sidewalk and the street. My recollection was that in the Chicago area, the grassy area was referred to with the bland name of “the parkway”. This wikipedia article confirms my memory.