Don't let's

[Baker, John]

        Can you explain why it is ungrammatical?  It isn't something I
would say (I don't recall seeing the collocation before I came across
the title "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight"), but surely "don't
let's" is just an abbreviation for "do not let us," which seems to me
perfectly grammatical.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Benjamin Barrett
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 4:33 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Don't let's

I'm sorry, but I did not say I'm uncomfortable with it. I said it is
ungrammatical. Perhaps it fits into a chronolect as you say, but as far
as I can tell, it is not a comfort issue for me, it is simply
grammatically unacceptable.

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