"take and VP"

[Dennis R. Preston]

Wilson,

Funny; my association with this use is by White, working-class high-
and lowland Appalachians, not with Blacks at all.

I'ma haul off and change my mind on your report (just as yours was
changed by your experience).

For me this reraises the more general question  of the similarities
of White and Black speech in the South in general, and I suspect we
have a lot more to learn. Who learned (borrowed, stole) what from
whom?

dInIs

>For a large part of  my life, I've considered forms like:
>
>I took and hit him
>
>to be peculiar to Black English. However, I've now heard
>this used by white people from states as disparate as
>Connecticut and Illinois. A colleague from Connecticut
>used it, bot only on very rare occasions.
>
>However, on today's Jerry Springer Show, there was a
>white guy from Illinois who used "take and VP" in
>practically every sentence, to a degree actually far greater
>than I'm accustomed to hearing from black speakers. He
>said things like:
>
>If she really loved me, she wouldn't've _took and slept_
>with other guys
>
>When she asked me for things, I _took and gave_ them to
>her, but she still _took and went out_ with other guys
>
>He happened to say, "We're both from the same state, Illinois."
>Unfortunately, he didn't say what location in Illinois. Oddly,
>neither of the other two people that he was interacting with
>used "take and VP" at all.
>
>-Wilson Gray
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-353-4736
preston at msu.edu

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org