wrassle ?

[Englishlanguage]

What does wrassle mean? I looked it up in the dictionary but found nothing.

Here's the context:

"If you bring a gator to the white house, I'll wrassle it".
It's from a comedy show (David Letterman Late Show)

Might it be a typo for wrestle?

Thank you

 

[Anglika]

It is not a typo, but a means of showing a colloquial and regional pronunciation of "wrestle".

 

[Englishlanguage]

It is not a typo, but a means of showing a colloquial and regional pronunciation of "wrestle".

Oh, I got the point. I just have a curiosity about this kind of variations. Is there a definite number of variations of a word or might there be an indefinite number of spellings of the same word (provided that it is understandable)?
Since I didn't find any entry in on-line dictionaries I'd go for the second option.

 

[Anglika]

The answer is both - you can reproduce spoken sounds as you choose, but there are also recognised written forms of dialect or slang.

Here is a site for Black Country dialect in England: Black Country Dialect

Here' another for American dialect: American Dialect Links

 

[Englishlanguage]

The answer is both - you can reproduce spoken sounds as you choose, but there are also recognised written forms of dialect or slang.

Here is a site for Black Country dialect in England: Black Country Dialect

Here' another for American dialect: American Dialect Links

Thank you so much Anglika... You provided very interesting links.

 

[MrPedantic]

As a footnote: "wrassle" is also in accord with the informal abbreviation "gator".

In cases like this, it's quite possible that the pronunciation doesn't reflect the normal pronunciation of the speaker: non-standard accents and pronunciations are sometimes adopted for humorous effect.

Best wishes,

MrP

 

[Englishlanguage]

As a footnote: "wrassle" is also in accord with the informal abbreviation "gator".

In cases like this, it's quite possible that the pronunciation doesn't reflect the normal pronunciation of the speaker: non-standard accents and pronunciations are sometimes adopted for humorous effect.

Best wishes,

MrP

Thank you MrPdantic.
Actually I had some problems with that gator as well but I looked it up in the dictionary and found out it standed for alligator. The problem with wrassle arose because I found no entry in any on-line dictionary.
As for the humorous effect, this is certainly the case since the sentence was pronounced in a humorous context as you can understand from the sentence itself.