"how about's"

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

    Just a guess: Suppose the expression arose wiith "How about us...", e.g. "How about us having a pizza before we go home?"  Then, by shortening of "us" to "'s" in informal speech, "How about's having a pizza...?"
 
     Once  "How about's" arose in this context, it could spread to other contexts.
 
Gerald Cohen
 
  
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From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Arnold M. Zwicky
Sent: Sun 10/8/2006 10:26 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "how about's"

another chapter in the "extra s" thread ("all's", "so's"): "how
about's" for "how about".  i have no hypothesis on this one at the
moment.

<snip>

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