F**king-A and on accident

[vida morkunas]

I've never heard 'on accident' here in Vancouver, nor in Seattle

perhaps this is prevalent only in a specific age group?  An age group that
goes to a school where some teachers don't correct obvious grammatical
mistakes ;)

When I read 'I went to the wrong classroom on accident' I feel that this
implies 'to make it look by accident, but it was premeditated'

cheers from sunny and warm Vancouver BC,

Vida.
vidamorkunas at telus.net



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of David Bergdahl
Sent: January 14, 2003 10:35 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: F**king-A and on accident


1.  At lunch today one of the group claimed that the expression "f**king-A"
was a play on Flying-A gas stations, a New England chain--someone mentioned
Tidewater Oil.  The two people we heard it from were 60+ New Englanders.
Any insight from the group?
2.  My daughter in Seattle writes "people on this coast say 'on accident'
instead of 'by accident' which sounds really weird to me. Have I mentioned
that to you before? For example, 'I went to the wrong classroom on
accident.'" I, personally, have never heard this--is it west coast or just
NW?
_________________________________________
"We are all New Yorkers"
       --Dominique Moisi