so you won't have to

[Dennis Baron]

I've occasionally heard this formula, usually in some kind of slogan:

we do x, so you won't have to.

X is usually something difficult, unpleasant, or otherwise to be
avoided.

Then today I came across a web site selling t-shirts for Defense
Language Institute alums, and one of the t-shirts says,

"We speak Farsi so you won't have to."

Is there a locus classicus for the general formula, which sounds like
it comes from an ad or a movie?  A web search tells me it's a lot
more common than I thought.

Best,

Dennis


Dennis Baron
Professor of English and Linguistics
Department of English
University of Illinois
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

office: 217-244-0568
fax: 217-333-4321

www.uiuc.edu/goto/debaron

read the Web of Language:
www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage

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