Difference in feel?

[Don Livingston]

In my experience v/na + accusative can often be used as "for" expressions,
although Russians express some hesitancy to do so when you press them on the
issue.  

I've had Russians tell me that the following sentences are fine:

Ja kupil kreslo v gostinuju.
Ja kupil kartinu na stenu.
Ja kupil chasy na ruku.

A literary example that first came to my mind was from Fonvizin's
"Nedorosl'".  Here's the context, with some of the original material removed
for clarity:

Pravdin:  Da ne u nej li oba uchilis' i geografii?
G-zha Prostakova:  Da skazhi emu, kakaja eto nauka-to?
Pravdin:  Opisanie zemli.
G-zha Prostakova:  A k chemu by eto sluzhilo na pervyj sluchaj?
Pravdin:  Na pervyj sluchaj sgodilos' by i k tomu, chto ezheli b sluchilos'
exat', tak znaesh', kuda edesh'.
G-zha Prostakova:  Da izvozchiki-to na chto zh?  Eto ikh delo delo. 
Eto-taki i nauka-to ne dvorjanskaja.  Dvorjanin tol'ko skazhi: povezi menja
tuda, svezut, kuda izvolish'.

When Prostakova says 'izvozchiki na chto', the context is clearly not a
"where to" variation, but a "what for" meaning.

I do not mean to imply that Prostakova is a model for good current or
antiquated Russian, but just to point out that the usage of na + accusative
in a "for" context has been around for quite some time.

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