"I'll see you on tomorrow"; was: Re: Is it just me or ...

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jul 6, 2006, at 6:16 PM, Jerry Cohen wrote:

>
>> From Brenda Lester, Thu 7/6/2006 3:41 PM:
>   My sister hates, "I'll see you on tomorrow."
>  <snip>
>
> * * * * * * * * *
>
> This looks like a blend: (spoken e.g.,  on  Monday): "I'll see you
> tomorrow" + "I'll see you on Tuesday."

it's pretty common, and has even made it into Paul Brians's Common
Errors list:

You can meet on Monday or on the 21st of March, but it’s an error to
say “on tomorrow,” “on yesterday” or “on today” Just leave “on” out
(except, of course, in phrases like “let’s meet later on today” using
the phrase “later on”).
   http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/ontomorrow.html

here are a few web examples of "meet on tomorrow":

1. Senator Derby announced that the Budget Committee will meet on
tomorrow at 6 pm in the Senate Chamber. Senators Pendas and Borges
announced that there will ...
www.fsu.edu/~sga/journal07065.html

2. Burdick is one of eight seniors competing in their last home meet
on tomorrow. "Each one of our seniors is so unique," Vargo-Brown
said. ...
www.thelantern.com/news/2005/03/04/Sports/ Last-
Swim.Meet.In.Peppe.Aquatic.This.Weekend-886135.shtml

3. The Spanish Club will meet on tomorrow, Thursday at 3:15 in room
329. Everyone is welcome!
www.oprfhs.org/school_news/student_bulletin/Archive/091405.html

4. Capital Action's Noodle Club will meet on Tomorrow. ...
mail.capitalaction.org/pipermail/ ca-events/2002-November/000175.html

5. The Cabinet will meet on tomorrow to decide and authorize curfews
"wherever it is necessary," said also PM, de Villepin. ...
www.newswiretoday.com/news/2089/

and, from a fair number of "see you on tomorrow":

Have a great 4th of July...see you on tomorrow!I
www.dcurbanmom.com/index.php?module=calendar& calendar%5Bview%
5D=event&id=345

even of "met on yesterday":

American Heart Walk met on yesterday and resolved all concerns.
www.uwf.edu/excellence/teamdata.cfm?
id=4535&dated=1&orgunitid=seout&link=1

all in all, these things seem way too common to be inadvertent
blends.  it's  much more likely that they're analogic extensions of
the main pattern and are now in some people's grammars, a view also
suggested by a blogger on the subject:

A few times over the past few months, I've heard a specific someone
refer to an event or deadline as happening on tomorrow. This has
jangled on my ear as language abuse each time, but I just had the
occasion to write that something is to happen on Saturday and this
felt as equally wrong/right.
We will drive there Saturday. / We will drive there on Saturday.
We will drive there tomorrow. / We will drive there on tomorrow.
   http://www.lestercat.net/blog/archives/2006/06/on_tomorrow.php

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)

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