Contraction in comparatives

[Wilson Gray]

FWIW, example (2) is the only one good ffor me. Of the other exx., (1)
is just word-salad and (3) seems to imply that, if I suddenly became
short, I wouldn't buy a pistol, after all.

Maybe the Everlys had a problem matching the words to the rhythm.

-Wilson

On 6/19/06, Ed Keer <edkeer at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ed Keer <edkeer at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Contraction in comparatives
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I find the following pretty bad.
>
> 1. This pistol is as long as I'm tall.
>
> Especially compared to the non-contracted version.
>
> 2. This pistol is as long as I am tall.
>
> I'm not sure of my judgement in this case, so I'd love
> to hear opinions. Also, are there dialects where (1)
> is acceptable (if it's not good for others)?
>
> I'm trying to figure out why this sentence:
>
> 3. I'm gonna buy me a pistol just as long as I'm tall.
>
> from the Everly Brother's version of 'T for Texas'
> bothers me. I think it' the contraction, but I'm not
> sure.
>
> Ed
>
> watchmesleep.blogspot.com
>
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