or either ... one

[Bill Le May]

My father (from Marcus, Washington, b. 1915) always phrased it "I've got to
[X] or [Y], one of the two."

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Beverly Flanigan
>
> I first heard this from my Oklahoma-born sister-in-law, but she didn't
> include "either."  She'd say, e.g., "I have to buy some cookies or make
> some, one"--with a slight pause and a rising and falling intonation on
> "one."  Michael Montgomery once asked how far this usage extended, and I
> noted that I hear it occasionally in southern Ohio, but not nearly as much
> as from my sister-in-law.