Make/take a left/right, etc.

[Dennis R. Preston]

I have both, and introspection fails about the selectivity device
selecting or preferring one or the other. (Good thing; otherwise us
quantitatively-oriented sociolinguists wouldn't have squat to do).

dInIs





Another directional idiom that seems to vary according to region is
the expression "take vs. make a left/right."  It seems to me that
metropolitan New Yorkers always say "make" in that context,
whereas most New Englanders would say "take."   Has anybody
else noticed this difference?

Joanne Despres

--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
740 Wells Hall A
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office - (517) 353-0740
Fax - (517) 432-2736