Grammar

[Richard J Senghas]

At 10:45 AM -0500 6/14/06, Robert Lawless wrote:
>At an amusement park that other day, I overheard a father berating 
>his son with these phrases repeated many times, "All you've done is 
>complain. Ain't nothing too good for you. I'm taking you home." I 
>assume he meant "ain't nothing good enough for you," unless this is 
>another of those reversed meaning phrases, such as "I could care 
>less." Any comments? Robert.

I've heard this type of exchange before, too.  I've unpacked it as 
meaning something along the lines of:

"You think you are so special that you expect only and all the very 
best.   Anything less isn't good enough for you.  So you complain 
about everything because it could be better; thus, "nothing is too 
good for you" [i.e. above your station in life].  Therefore, you need 
to be taken down a peg, so I'm taking you home.  You should be happy 
for what you get."

[Unsolicited social commentary:  It is heartening to see a parent 
realize that giving less to such a child may be a more effective way 
to foster appreciation than continued escalation of gifts in the hope 
of finally pleasing a child.  I sure hope the father's actions ended 
up being consistent with the rhetoric, otherwise it seems to descend 
into shaming, however unintentional, IMHO.]

-RJS
-- 
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Richard J. Senghas, Assoc. Professor     | Sonoma State University
Anthropology/Linguistics                 | 1801 East Cotati Avenue
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Richard.Senghas at sonoma.edu               | 707-664-3920 (fax)