I know it

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:24 AM -0400 6/11/01, Charles Wells wrote:
>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
>
Then there's the rhetorical confirmation "Don't I know it!"--not to
observations like the one above, but to e.g. the reminder "You seem
to have some deadlines looming".  This is possible even for those who
don't normally say "I know it."

larry