Final call for papers: ADS 2008 Chicago

[Wilson Gray]

I have to go with Ron on this one. When we moved up to Saint Louis
from Texas, we were struck by the ability of white neighbor kids,
ca.1940, to use "No, I never!" for "No, I didn't!" as well as for "No,
I never have / haven't (ever)!"

-Wilson

On 8/7/07, RonButters at aol.com <RonButters at aol.com> wrote:
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> Poster:       RonButters at AOL.COM
> Subject:      =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20=A0=20=A0=20=A0=20Re:=20[ADS-L]=20Final=20c?
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>
> In a message dated 8/7/07 11:30:19 AM, preston at MSU.EDU writes:
>
>
> > For
> > example, "never" is apparently standard in "I never went there" for
> > "At no time in the past did I got there" but nonstandard for "I
> > didn't go there."
> >
>
> So "standard" American English has some kind of punctual-versus-eternal
> aspect? Not for me, I think (maybe for young guys such as Dennis), is "I never went
> there" 'standard' for either case, though I could say it informally whether
> my meaning was 'I have never gone there' or 'I didn't go there at the time that
> instant in time that is at issue in our conversation." If someone says to me,
> "I never went there"--whether it is Dennis, Arnold, Frank, or some totally
> vernacular speaker, I cannot know, except for context, whether the time
> described is punctual or eternal.
>
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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