[Ads-l] "a solid" vs. "some solid"

MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US) william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL
Tue Feb 6 19:06:09 UTC 2018


Dialog from the Pixar film _The Incredibles_ (2004), Holly Hunter's character speaking:

"Snug, I'm calling in a solid you owe me."


> ----
> 
> Around the time that the expression, _do me a solid_ "do me a favor" was coming into use, I noted that, in StL, back in the '40's and '50's,
> the phrase was "do me _some_ solid," with its negative being, "I can't do you no solid."
> 
> Occasionally, I Google this kind of stuff to see whether it may have appeared in print since the last time that I looked. So...
> 
> Can you do Gymnastics with Scoliosis? | Yahoo Answers 
> https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100610000643AAzb6FA
> Jun 10, 2010 - "i became entreated [interested?] to do calisthenics and putting [pulling?] workouts in my freshman and sophomore 365 days
> [years?] in extreme [?] college to decrease my scoliosis. That advice would do you properly[?]. i'd use the pull up bars to hold from, and
> stretch my back. It appeared to _do me some solid_."
> 
> It's unclear that this means _do me some solid_ in the relevant sense - "do me some good, help me out" - considering the lack of clarity of
> what precedes it. But, "until the real thing comes along," as the song says...
> --
> -Wilson


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


More information about the Ads-l mailing list