Oftenly

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:29 AM -0400 8/24/07, Charles Doyle wrote:
>My favorite perverse parentism is "Do you want a spanking?"

Or perhaps, in SE Ohio and W PA, "Do you want spanked?"

LH

>Somewhere in the world there's a masochistic child who doesn't
>understand the nature of rhetorical questions . . . .
>
>--Charlie
>____________________________________________________________
>
>---- Original message ----
>>Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 05:32:58 -0700
>>From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>
>>A few years ago there was an evangelistic billboard campaign around
>>these parts that had one memorable board that, IMHO, transcends
>>creed. In white print on a solid black back:
>>
>>   "Don't Make Me Come Down There!" --God.
>>
>>   JL
>>
>>Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>In ordinary, colloquial speech, I am accustomed to hearing only
>"I've told you _time and time again_." It's one of those
>"mother-talk" speech-forms such as, "your head is hard as a rock,"
>"talking to you is like talking to a wall," "if I've told you once,
>I've told you a thousand times," "don't make me have to come get
>you," "I thought I told you to clean up this mess," "I'm going to
>beat you till I can't see you," "can't we have anything nice around
>here?"
>>etc., etc., etc.
>>
>>Not being a parent, I've never had occasion to use these myself, but
>>I've heard these and more all too many times.
>>
>>-Wilson
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org