Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE

Alice Faber faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU
Wed Apr 9 20:54:29 UTC 2008


Laurence Horn wrote:
> At 11:46 PM -0400 4/8/08, Baker, John wrote:
>> I think it's pretty common:  232,000 Google hits.  Clearly not the
>> same as "that isn't right," which is more the kind of thing you
>> would say about an incorrect math answer.
>>
>>
>> John Baker
>
> Like "my bad" several years ago, or "player hater ['plEy@ 'hEt@]",
> "That ain't right" in the relevant sense/context has been helped
> along in its trajectory by the usage of Stuart Scott on ESPN's
> SportsCenter.  Alice, am I right or am I right?
>

Yes and no. It's definitely a Stuart Scott-ism. However, it's the second
clause in the utterance, and I just can't reconstruct in my mind the
first clause. The context is a replay of a spectacular play. Scott's
comment is something like "I'm not ...... , but that ain't right".


--
 =======================================================================
Alice Faber                                       faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                               fax (203) 865-8963

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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list