The ultimate go-ahead-and

[Peter A. McGraw]

Since (with all due respect) nobody so far seems to understand what I'm
talking about (not permission, not self-permission, not
proceeding-after-a-pause-or-hesitation, not equivalent to "go on and" --
just an empty formula devoid of meaning, more like a nervous tick than
anything else), I wonder if the phenomenon I've observed IS in fact
regional.  I never thought of it as such, but I wouldn't swear I'd heard it
elsewhere. I'd ALMOST swear I heard it used by our dept. secretary in
Tennessee, but that was a long time ago.

Peter Mc.

--On Tue, Aug 22, 2000 5:34 PM -0400 Beverly Flanigan
<flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU> wrote:

> I agree with Don and Natalie.  I've used the phrase many times and never
> thought of it as acknowledging permission, unless it's
> self-permission.  "Go on and (do something)" is less common for me but not
> unfamiliar.  Neither form has ever struck me as "secretarial" in tone or
> use, and neither form appears to be regionally restricted, from the cites
> of us three (Texas?, Mississippi, and Minnesota).



****************************************************************************
                               Peter A. McGraw
                   Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
                            pmcgraw at linfield.edu