on accident

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 11:20 AM 1/18/00 -0700, you wrote:
>For what it's worth ...
>
>I just did a very informal survey of an ug linguistics class on their
>knowledge
>of "on accident."  In response to whether they had ever heard the expression
>(presented to them in context), I got the following results, with associated
>places of upbringing/education:
>
>14 yes:  CO, MN, CA, AZ, NJ, TX, OR
>
>13 no:  CO, NJ, NM, NV, IL
>
>Almost all respondents were in the 19 to 22 age range.
>
>I also asked about the "evaluation" of the phrase.  Most regarded it as
>some form
>of substandard.

Even the ones who use it?  Assuming they're unaware of the other usage,
this surprises me.


>Karl Krahnke
>Colorado State University