"I'm gonna get me a dog"

Leon Stassen l.stassen at let.kun.nl
Tue Sep 28 01:57:14 UTC 2004


I'm not a native speaker of English, so maybe I should be reluctant, but I
do know that I own an album by a contemporary American songwriter on which
the following line can be heard:

"I went outside and I smoked myself a J "

What is more, I also have an album by some other American songwriter  that
has a song with the line:

"I had me a girl in Minnesota/ She was only fillin'  her  quota"

Both albums sold over three million copies, and I am not aware that any
buyer has ever complained about bad English. So one thing I think should be
clear: these what i would call "ethical  datives" are a real phenomenon of
at least American English.



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