more weird prep-dropping and/or subcategorization

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon Jan 5 00:47:18 UTC 2009


At 5:44 PM -0500 1/4/09, David Metevia wrote:
>I found these from the past:
>
>Miers withdraws Supreme Court nomination - The Changing Court ... Oct
>27, 2005 ... Confronted with criticism from both the left and right,
>Harriet Miers on Thursday withdrew her nomination to the US Supreme
>Court.
>www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9837151/
>
>
>Appeals Court Candidate Withdraws Nomination - Los Angeles Times Barbara
>Durham, a conservative Washington Supreme Court justice, disclosed
>Thursday that she is withdrawing her candidacy for a seat on the US 9th
>Circuit ...
>articles.latimes.com/1999/may/28/news/mn-42041
>
>
>On the face of it, the construction is something I would say.....until I
>start to analyze it and wonder how the person nominated can withdraw
>something he did not submit.
>
>DM

Right; I'm probably just being an old fuddy-duddy, not for the first
or last time.

LH

>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Laurence Horn
>Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 16:00
>Subject: more weird prep-dropping and/or subcategorization
>
>headline and first paragraph from a Huffington Post story today:
>
>Bill Richardson Withdraws Commerce Secretary Nomination
>
>WASHINGTON - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday announced that
>he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack
>Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how
>some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract.
>
>I don't recall this construction before, with the nominee withdrawing
>his own nomination to a cabinet position, although I'm not sure I
>could say "withdrawing from his nomination" either.  I guess I'd use
>"decline".  Or something.   But for me, only the President-Elect (or
>President-Select, as Rush Limbaugh and his ilk like to call him)
>could withdraw Richardson's nomination, assuming the nomination
>itself really exists in the first place before Obama is sworn in.
>
>LH
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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