whuppin'-- or, presidential nominative-objective

[Beth Lee Simon]

I don't have this/these, but people on the Alabama side of the family do
-- isn't some of the distinction based on indefiniteness vs definiteness
or completion, plus semantic role?

I'm lookin' to have little talk with X -- I intend to find X and have
some words and get a few things out in the open
vs
I'm fixin' to have a little talk with X -- I intend for X to come to an
understanding.

so, also -- the role that X has.

As I said, tho, i'm speculating.

American Dialect Society wrote:
>
> >larry,
>
> Yup. I was only responding to the "lookin' for a whuppin'" cite. I
> don't think it's got anything to do with "lookin' to." I'm still
> pondering the difference between "fixin' to" and "lookin' to." I have
> them both, and they are quite distinct, but my defnitional strategies
> are weak today.
>
> dInIs
>
> >At 9:00 AM -0500 2/25/01, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
> >>>You've been X-in' for a Y-in' (achin' for a breakin', itchin' for a
> >>>bitchin') has almost proverbial "frame" status in my dialect.
> >>
> >>dInIs
> >
> >I wonder if "cruisin for a bruisin" isn't the prime mover for these.
> >But I don't see "lookin to X/get Xed" as being part of this
> >pattern--for one thing, X might be a positive outcome.
> >
> >larry
> >
> >>
> >>>True, but how about, "You been lookin' for a whuppin', and I'm fixin' to
> >>>give you one"?
> >>>
> >>>bob
> >>>
> >>>>  From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >>>>  Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>>>  Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2001 16:48:59 +0800
> >>>>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >>>>  Subject: Re: presidential nominative-objective
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>  How about in "You lookin to get whupped?"  Seems pretty immediate.
> >>>>
> >>>>  Larry
> >>
> >>--
> >>Dennis R. Preston
> >>Department of Linguistics and Languages
> >>Michigan State University
> >>East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
> >>preston at pilot.msu.edu
> >>Office: (517)353-0740
> >>Fax: (517)432-2736
>
> --
> Dennis R. Preston
> Department of Linguistics and Languages
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
> preston at pilot.msu.edu
> Office: (517)353-0740
> Fax: (517)432-2736
>
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> Date:         Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:09:46 -0500
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> From:         "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: presidential nominative-objective
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