frightened by solecism

[Dennis R. Preston]

>Could your pharmacist be a prescriptivist? "... in fact, he sent us
>several new ones."

Drugs is drugs.

dInIs




>I phoned my pharmacist today and the pharmacist said, "Your doctor didn't
>send us no new prescription for you."
>
>I try not to be judgmental about language, but, for a brief moment I waivered
>here. Did I really want to put my life in the hands of a druggist who uses
>multiple negation in service encounters?
>
>Is there a lesson here for students?

--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
740 Wells Hall A
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office - (517) 353-0740
Fax - (517) 432-2736