"bring Route 40"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Aug 28, 2008, at 6:10 AM, Marc Velasco wrote:

> I wonder if this is a wholesale replacement of take for bring, or
> whether
> take and bring both exist for this idiom, and there's some sort of
> rule that
> says whether to use one or the other.

well, this site:

   http://asalwaysyea.blogspot.com/2008/05/national-museum-itaewon-indiana-jones.html

has "We took the subway [to the National Museum of Korea]" and then
later "We brought the subway home".  that's "take" for motion away
from the reference point and "bring" for motion towards the reference
point -- an extension of the standard deictic uses of "bring" and
"take". (the author of the blog lists herself as a student living in
Maplewood MN, not far from St. Paul.)

the other uses of "bring" might be seen as viewing the trip with the
destination as reference point.  here are a few more:

 From the West: Bring I-80 to Des Moines, remaining on the same road
(I-80 heads straight into I-235).
   http://www.mychurch.org/blog/104252/iowa-arise-conference-december-14-2007

from this same iowa site, a puzzling use of "bring" for one leg of the
journey but "take" for the next:

 From the North: Bring I-35 south and take I-235 West.

from northwest ohio (note the "come"):

Clevelanders might bring I-80 to I-75 and head South. Southerners
might just come up I-75 past my exit...
   http://www.wulfden.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=896

another from iowa:

Yup, Mt Pleasant is on for Both Days. As far as I know, the I80 bridge
at Davenport is open, I think your best bet would be to bring I 80 to
218/27.
   http://www.ianbha.com/bulletinboard/viewtopic.php?p=15999&highlight=&sid=ada76459c5a89668fe234fcb88625cb7

("take" seems to be the only usage for specifying exits, by the way.
"bring" seems to be just for specifying roads, highways, and so on.)

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