I know it

[Charles Wells]

I am a native of Atlanta who has lived in the Cleveland, OH area since my
twenties (I am now 63).  I associate "I know it" with southern speech but it
may be that it is only older people.  I would expect that to the statement

"There is a leap day in 2000"

a southern might say "I know it" and a midwesterner might say "I know".  "I
know that" sounds odd to me.

However, the word "know" occurs in your question and then I don't think I would
ever have said anything but "yes" as an answer.  There is something very subtle
going on here, or else I am imagining things.

--Charles Wells

>I've been wondering for some time if there's been a change in the
>way questions are answered.
>
>A: Did you know that there is a leap day in the year 2000?
>B: Yes, I know it/that.
>
>To me, only "that" is correct in this context, but I hear older
>speakers use "it."
>
>To me, "I know it" has a slightly different intonation and means "I
>agree with you" or "I know what you're talking about."
>
>Has anyone else noticed this?
>
>Benjamin Barrett



Charles Wells,
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Case Western Reserve University
Affiliate Scholar, Oberlin College
Send all mail to:
105 South Cedar St., Oberlin, Ohio 44074, USA.
email: charles at freude.com.
home phone: 440 774 1926.
professional website: http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/math/wells/home.html
personal website: http://www.oberlin.net/~cwells/index.html
NE Ohio Sacred Harp website: http://www.oberlin.net/~cwells/sh.htm