[Lexicog] meaning and usage of "on me"

[Kenneth Keyes]

Dear Wayne,
 
Do you know if there is a "malefactive" in Cheyenne?
 
Ken

  _____  

From: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com [mailto:lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Leman
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 4:23 AM
To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Lexicog] meaning and usage of "on me"



? 

FWIW, Kenneth, this usage of "on me" is related to its usages in sentences like:
 
My car broke down on me.
He gave up on me.
 
"on me" indicates a negative impact upon someone. It is similar in English to how the Greek dative case can indicate impact of some action on someone.
 
Wayne Leman
 

? 

Dear All, 
 
Just a quick query. Have you thought about the phrase "on me" when preceded by a verb?  Someone recently asked me about the meaning of "on me". He quoted Harry Truman's statement regarding Gen. Douglas MacArthur's insubordination: "I don't want him to resign on me, I want him fired!" What do you think of the phrase "on me"? Is is a transitivizer? What does it mean? This is different than its usual meaning as preposition as in the famous "lean on me". I think it must mean "without my permission", or "against my will".  
 
Here are some examples I thought of: 
 
Don't leave on me.
Don't quit on me. 
Don't up and marry on me. 
Don't die on me!
 
I hope he doesn't...on me. 
I'm afraid he might...on me. 
 
Can you think of other examples? (Just a hint, using Google wasn't very helpful.)
 
Is there a text corpus where we can specify "any verb [any tense, any person, any number ]" followed by the phrase "on" followed by an accusative/dative personal pronoun? How long can a phrasal verb incorporating "on me" be?
 
I am fascinated by this question. I hope you are too. Many thanks in advance, 
 
Ken
 
 



 

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