I shall be 17

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:28 AM -0400 4/12/01, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>>... "SHALL is absolutely impossible in this position"
>
>As they say in French, "Bouchois!"
>
>>Would any of you out there share this judgement, that I SHALL be 17 next
>>month is a definite no-no?
>
>I think it's a definite yes-yes.
>
And then there are those who follow The Rule (see discussion in
archives), for whom "I shall be 17 next month" is an ordinary
predictive future, while "I will be 17 next month" expresses
determination or insistence ("I WILL be 17, and you can't stop me!").
For such speakers, if any exist, "I'll be 17 next month" is
presumably either ambiguous or (if the latter reading  is too
stressed to permit contraction) "shall" only.

larry