Can you say...?

[Benjamin Zimmer]

Scot LaFaive <spiderrmonkey at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Does anyone know where the phrase "can you say..." comes from (if from any
> one place), in the sense of an answer to a question. For example, if someone
> were to ask why I didn't want to go outside for a walk today (0 degrees
> out), I might say, "Can you say freezing?" framing the answer as a question.

Barry Popik <Bapopik at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.

As discussed here in May 2005:
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0505b&L=ads-l&P=5016


--Ben Zimmer

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