Grammar

[Dr. Mark Peterson]

Ah, yes.  The importance of the paralinguistic dimension!

At 04:01 PM 6/14/2006 -0500, Robert Lawless wrote:
>Richard. You might not be so generous in your interpretation if you had 
>heard the extremely threatening tone of the father's voice and seen the 
>fear in the boy's face. I believe the underlying message was, "You've 
>ruined my day, and I'm going to beat the shit out of you when we get 
>home." Robert.
>
>At 11:05 AM 6/14/2006, Richard J Senghas wrote:
>>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
>>--
>>======================================================================
>>Richard J. Senghas, Assoc. Professor     | Sonoma State University
>>Anthropology/Linguistics                 | 1801 East Cotati Avenue
>>Coordinator, Linguistics Program         | Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
>>Richard.Senghas at sonoma.edu               | 707-664-3920 (fax)
>