"Do you do Taco Hell?" / "bus" as non-count n.

[hpst@earthlink.net]

Doug,

Brits always talk about going to hospital.

Page Stephens

> [Original Message]
> From: Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: 12/7/2006 9:55:22 PM
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "Do you do Taco Hell?" / "bus" as non-count n.
>
> >   "Bus" as a non-count n.?  This is strange to me.  And yet my neighbor
> > in grad school one year (1977-78)  used to reminisce about "driving
> > truck" in Ohio, and in Tennessee I was once asked, "Do you ever ride
bike
> > ?" ....
>
> Cf.:
>
> Do you drive truck? = Are you a truck driver?
>
> Do you ride bike/bus? = Are you a bike/bus rider?
>
> Do you play piano? = Are you a piano player? [conventional]
>
> Do you tend bar? = Are you a bartender? [conventional]
>
> Do you lick boot? = Are you a boot-licker? [multiple Web instances of this
> "lick boot"] [several obscene parallels also come to mind]
>
> etc.
>
> In each case, in either column, there is apparent lack of 'countability'.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
>
> --
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