Babysit?

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:23 PM -0400 8/21/02, Tori Anders wrote:
>Right.  I don't know why we have to have a word for EVERYTHING!  Why
>can't we just say, "I take care of children?"  or "I am going to
>take care of Sue's children while she is at work."  Are we lazy, are
>we trying to save our breaths, or is it something else??
>
Well, I'd call it economical instead of lazy, but linguists have long
noted a general tendency for frequently used concepts or referents to
get relatively simple lexicalization (as expressed, for example, in
Zipf's Law of Abbreviation from 1935:  high frequency is the cause of
reduced expression).  You can try fighting a die-hard battle for "I'm
[oops, I am] going to take care of Sue's children [shouldn't that be
"the children who Sue gave birth to or adopted"?  genitives seem a
bit lazy and unfocused] while she is at work", but don't be surprised
if your neighbors go on asking "Can you babysit my kids too?"
There's nothing particularly reprehensible about the Principle of
Least Effort, unless you're REALLY into the Protestant Ethic.

Larry