Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE

[Dennis Preston]

LH,

Thanks; nice list; I ain't takin no stinkin song
titles, but lots of the others are gooduns.

dInIs

PS: I have "It don't pay me no...." not "make."

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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>At 5:02 PM +0200 4/8/08, Dennis Preston wrote:
>>Almost certainly the case, and recall that I continue to be
>>interested in people providing me with even further examples of
>>obligatory nonstandards.
>>
>>E.g.,
>>
>>What do you think of (or "How bout") them (never "those") apples.
>>
>>You the ("da") man (never "You are the man").
>>
>>/Si:It/ for metaphoric uses, but never for
>>feces. (/SIt/ is OK for both uses.)
>>(/S/ = palatal sibilant)
>>
>>You can't go to "Dunking Donuts," even if you claim to never "drop your g's."
>>
>>Are there any obligatory "ain'ts"? Others?
>>
>>dInIs
>
>It don't (*doesn't) mean a thing if it ain't (*hasn't) got that swing.
>It don't (*doesn't) make no (*any) never mind.
>Dance with the one that brung (*brought) you
>If it ain't broke (*If it's not broken), don't fix it.
>S/he got (*has) game.
>If momma ain't (*isn't) happy, ain't nobody (*nobody is) happy.
>It ain't (*isn't) me, babe.
>Long time no see.  (* ???)
>No can (*Cannot) do.
>Say it ain't (??it's not) so.
>That ain't (?That's not) gonna (*going to) cut it.
>Badges?  We don't need no (*any) stinkin (?stinking) badges.
>     [Sorry, Fred; I know it's a misquote.]
>You pays (*pay) your money you takes (*take) your choice.
>You ain't (??You're not) just whistling Dixie.
>It ain't (??It's not) the meat, it's the motion.
>That ain't (?*That's not) hay.
>You done good.  (ÇYou did well.)
>Yo mamma.  (ÇYour mother.)
>
>
>
>
>(YMMV)
>LH
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>>-----------------------
>>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>>>Subject:      Heard on The Judges: sE > to BE
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>Some may recall that I once claimed that, regardless of a speaker's
>>>usual register, he tends to move it toward the working-class norm,
>>>when using slang or slang-like expressions.
>>>
>>>Middle-class, black, male speaker complaining about his cheating wife:
>>>
>>>She was unbelievable, your honor! She _wadn_ cool at at all. She would
>>>call me at work to find out when I was coming home, so that she would
>>>know how much time she had to do her _thing [TaeIN]_!"
>>>
>>>-Wilson
>>>--
>>>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
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>>--
>>Dennis R. Preston
>>University Distinguished Professor
>>Department of English
>>Morrill Hall 15-C
>>Michigan State University
>>East Lansing, MI 48864 USA
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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