know from

[Jan Ivarsson TransEdit]

There is no need to presume an influence from Yiddish - it can very well come directly from German. Warig's Deutsches Wörterbuch says under "wissen" e.g. "davon weiss ich nichts", "er tut, als wüsste er von nichts", etc.
Jan Ivarsson

----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip Trauring" <philip at CS.BRANDEIS.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 2:54 PM
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] know from


> I certainly associate the construction 'know from' as being a New
> York Jewish  construction. It has certainly spread beyond New York
> and beyond Jewish usage, but frequently when I hear it now, it is an
> attempt to sound like a New Yorker or as a Jewish New Yorker.
>
> I've also found the construction more common among people who
> originate in Queens and Brooklyn than elsewhere.
>
> The Oxford Guide to World English also cites it as as a Yiddish
> construction (p. 198):
>
>       They don't know from nothing ('They really don't know anything')
>
>
> Philip Trauring
>