"I am still believing..."

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

Similar to established Southern US dialect, "I've been knowing him all my
life" (in the sense of being acquainted)--though such speakers would not say "I'm
knowing him" (except perhaps in the carnal sense).

In the case of "I'm still believing/liking/loving," the presence of the
adverb makes this more acceptable to me.


In a message dated 2/5/08 10:43:16 PM, jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA writes:


> I think it's part of a larger trend to put mental state verbs in the
> present progressive. I remember "I'm not liking this little boy" from
> a play back in the late '80s or early '90s, and "I'm liking X" or
> "I'm not liking X" has caught on fairly well, as, certainly, have
> "I'm loving X" and, of course, "I'm thinking X".
>
> "I'm beliving" gets 53,500 Google hits and "I'm still believing" gets
> 12,200. I'm thinking we'll be having to be getting used to this.
>
> James Harbeck.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>




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