Read all about it!

[gamboler]

I think that many years ago, newsboys selling newspapers on the streets used to shout: "Extra, extra! Read all about it!" (at least is what I see in a lot of movies)
My problem is that in one of these old movies they say something that sounds to me like "Ever extra!" and they repeat it throughout the movie. By the way, they add "all about the Wells murder", of course.

My question is: Does the sentence "ever extra!" make sense to you in this context? Or is it another word that sounds like "ever" what newsies used to say in the 1930s and 1940s?

Listen to the attached file, please.

 

[gamboler]

Thanks, Piscean, but my question wasn't about the word "extra". I know what an extra edition of a newspaper is. It was about the word "ever" in the expression "ever extra", if it is "ever" what the newsboy says. Have you listened to the audio file?

 

[gamboler]

Could the expression have been used typically in the United States? Or maybe it's "Have it!" instead of "Ever!" what the vendor says.
Let's see what other teachers think.

 

[Tdol]

Does the sentence "ever extra!" make sense to you in this context?

Not to me- the newsboys were right. (British English speaker)

 

[gamboler]

Thanks Tdol.
Do you hear "Ever" in the audio clip just as Piscean did, or is it, in your opinion, "Have it" instead of "Ever" what the newsboy says?
I am making a transcription of the audio and I don't know which word or words I should write there.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm not completely convinced that he does say ever since the sound quality is so poor. If he does, it's something I've never heard before in this context.

 

[gamboler]

Thanks a lot, jutfrank.
If the expression were "have it!" instead of "ever", would it make sense to you?
("Have it" in the sense of "buy it", "get it")

 

[jutfrank]

If the expression were "have it!" instead of "ever", would it make sense to you?
("Have it" in the sense of "buy it", "get it")

I suppose it would make a bit more sense but I really don't think he's saying that.

Also, it doesn't sound like he has an American accent. It sounds northern English to me. Is the film set in England?

 

[gamboler]

No, New York City, USA 1930s

 

[Tdol]

I have played it many times and it is hard to make sense of it. Could the first word be anyway?

 

[nigele2]

I'm going to put a suggestion on the table. In New York from 1809 to 1955 there were numerous newspapers called Geneva .........

For example: Geneva Courier, Geneva Advertiser.

The Geneva Daily Times was published between 1911 to 1955. It seems the sole survivor in the 1930s and beyond.

Could the name of the Geneva Times have been shortened to Eva? Thus the extra addition became the "Eva Extra"

 

[jutfrank]

I just listened another several times. I'm now hearing the elusive word (the penultimate word) as having three syllables. Could it be evening?

 

[jutfrank]

Thus the extra addition became the "Eva Extra"

I suppose you're referring to the first word? Since the sound file appears to open immediately on the first word (what sounds like ever), I'm not even sure that it is a complete word. And if it is, it's not necessarily the same as what appears before the final extra, I think.

 

[Tdol]

Actually, having gone back to it today and given it several more plays, I find Nigele2's view persuasive. However, I could probably be persuaded by a different theory tomorrow. :up:

 

[Tdol]

My problem is that in one of these old movies they say something that sounds to me like "Ever extra!"

What is the movie? Can you link to the exact point in YouTube or something?