stunning antedating

David Bowie db.list at PMPKN.NET
Mon Mar 20 14:38:27 UTC 2006


From:    "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>

> most people, encountering examples like this, treat them like speech
> errors, either unconsciously "correcting" them or noting their
> oddness consciously (and classifying them as some sort of "failure of
> parallelism").  but a minority (maybe as many as 20%) have no trouble
> with them, even after reflection; yes, they're not formally parallel,
> but for us GoToGo types, that's ok.

Most people reject GoToGo constructions out of hand?!?

I'm going to lie on the floor, curl up in a fetal position, and suck on
my thumb until the world stops spinning around my ears.

<snip>

--
David Bowie                                         http://pmpkn.net/lx
     Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
     house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
     chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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