Sharing . . .

[Jonathan Lighter]

 I agree that the "headline" sounds wrong, but I doubt that the pseudo-pychotherapeutic "share with" is entirely responsible.

  JL

Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Charles Doyle
Subject: Sharing . . .
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Over the weekend, I heard an NPR "headline" that announced, "Democrats get ready to share power with President Bush." That sounded backwards to me. Thinking about it, I am able to apprehend both the grammar and the sense of the construction, and the OED documents its historical standing. Still, so predominant has been the parental and (pseudo-)psychotherapeutic use of the verb "share (with)" that it now seems--in my mind--largely reserved for what the current POSSESSOR (of power, wealth, information, feelings, toys) would do.

--Charlie

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