"no can do"

[Mark A Mandel]

Here's a question I got from an acquaintance in England -- or somewhere in
Britain, anyway! (Sorry, Rafe; edresses are so vague! :-)\  )

#I've just seen a set of adverts for Windows 2000 in a computer magazine,
#all having the prominent slogan:
#
#   know
#     can do
#
#Is this some marketeer's attempt at twisting the standard phrase, or is it
#that they don't know the phrase?
#
#Mark, or anyone else on the Left Bank: Does the US have the phrase "No can
#do" as a negative response to a request?

Yes indeed, meaning "I/we/one can't do it, It's impossible." I have a
feeling it's a bit old-fashioned, maybe WWII generation, but it may be
just not in use in my area or in my nerdy/academic/suburban/geeky circles.
That's a good question to pose on the American Dialect Society discussion
list, and I shall do so... AAMOF, I *am* doing so by this very message.
What is the history and distribution of this expression?

-- Mark A. Mandel
"Someone's sent out the New Australian Grammar to Malaya nearly a
 century before it was invented, and I'm going to be all day
 sorting it out."     -- Diana Wynne Jones, _A Tale of Time City_