[Corpora-List] Deixis

[Linas Vepstas]

2009/9/17 chris brew <brew.2 at osu.edu>:
> joe wilson's "you lie!", to me, is odd. if it is discourse deixis then i
> think a fully competent native speaker unconstrained by congressional rules
> would have said either "that is  a lie" or "you are lying".

Only if they are cool, calm, collected: if they have their wits about
them.  But in the heat of the moment, an apoplectic fit of rage,
a red-faced scream: "you are lying" is far to complex, too many
syllables, too much of a mouthful. Too many neurons. And too polite.
In screaming matches, one simply does not have enough time
to squeeze out that many syllables.  "You lie!" is far more compact,
direct, provocative.  It is meant to provoke a visceral reaction
on the other side that a polite "you are lying" could never
accomplish.

cf. playground: "you lie like a rug"

--linas

_______________________________________________
Corpora mailing list
Corpora at uib.no
http://mailman.uib.no/listinfo/corpora