"I just love me some X": a new construction?

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon May 6 18:41:48 UTC 2002


I have no idea where this came from, but here it is.  Commentators on
the so-called "personal dative" construction in Southern
U.S./Appalachian Eng. that we've had various threads about here--I
saw me some mermaids once, Get you a copper kettle, He's gonna buy
him a pickup--have mentioned that one condition on its occurrence is
that the "theme"  or (real) object must be quantified.  So we don't
find "He's gonna catch him catfish", but only "He's gonna catch him
{a/some} catfish".  So I was bemused to hear, on last week's episode
of "Will & Grace" (NBC), just before giving a paper on this
construction at Northwestern, the following from Jack's very trendy
and unpredictable mouth:

[I started going to gay group to pick up men.]  I just LOVE me some crazies.

Here, the "some" doesn't really quantify "crazies"; the sense is
really generic: 'I just love (me) crazy men/people'.  The "some" here
looks like a quantificational fig leaf to allow the personal dative,
since "I love me crazies" would be ruled out.  When I mentioned this
example at my talk, one of the students mentioned noticing similar
examples on salon.com's table talk (Lynne, have you caught these?),
including this one:

I just love me some Jude Law.

--yes, with the singular proper name.  I'm guessing the "some" is
just pleonastic, although I'm not sure.  So I checked google, and
found the examples below, inter many alia.  Note that the plurals are
in each case pseudo-quantified, like Jack's example above; they're
all really generic.  Does anyone know where this came from, or when?

larry
======================
http://www.jolenestrailerpark.com/Storys/3.htm

I just love me some Jerry Springer. I don't know why so many people
are trying to "Clean up" his act. Don't they know half the people in
the world act this way?
======================
http://www.hayllar.com/dec00/51200.html

I just love me some cats! Don't you just LOVe cats?!
Š
Grace keeps to herself these days.  And her crime of the month is to
pee in my big house house plant.  "I love me some plants.  The green
sets off my beauty.  And the soil is just right for a little wee."
=======================
http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/staff/Chanile.asp

Favorite Actresses: Drew Bareymore, Jennifer Garner (just love me
some ALIAS!), Meg Ryan (not with Russell Crowe though)
=======================
http://www.bitchypoo.com/2001/March/08.html

In fact, I just read the first of the Kat Colorado series, which my
beloved Moira sent me for my birthday. I just love me some female
kick-ass detectives, and when the hell is Sue Grafton going to put
the next one out?
=======================
http://daylee.weblogs.com/stories/storyReader$76

IŠwas so glad to see to see Denzel Washington win for his potrayal of
Rubin Carter in The Hurricane that I whooped out loud. I did, I did.
I guess I just love me some Denzel.
[note the URL ref. to blogs]
=======================
http://members.aol.com/unclrdcstr/redmas.htm

Anyway, back to Christmas.........long about this time Cletus
Henderson , Bovina's daddy,came out of the kitchen and yelled
"Dinner's ready, Y'all come on and eayt." Old Cletus always did cook
up a mean old meal. "I gots some cornbread, some oyster stew, and
roast Coon with cheese." Ahhhhh, there ain't nothin that goes better
as Christmas dinner than Coon and Cheese. Umm, ummm. I just love me
some Coon and Cheese.
========================
http://www.drmaddvibe.com/housecalls/mar17.html

        Spacey "t' got off the drums and then thats when I had
        to get on the drums! OOOOOHh WWWeee! I Just
        love me some Drums! and from there on out it was just Funky.
        and Off the Hook.



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