Don't let's

[Benjamin Barrett]

I just ran into a male Tucsonite, 43, who's also an "ain't no don't
let's" dialect speaker. BB

Laurence Horn wrote:
>
> At 4:12 PM -0800 1/16/08, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>
>> For the record, I'm not drawing a correlation or stating they are the
>> same, simply attempting to describe the reaction I have.
>>
>> Also for the record, here's what I originally wrote:
>>
>>> I'm American and I consider it ungrammatical. BB
>>>
>> I think most of this thread was caused by my phrasing. I should have
>> said "...and it's ungrammatical for me" as you suggest. I therefore make
>> it so! Clearly, the way I wrote it implies a wide-ranging judgment that
>> I didn't intend.
>>
>> FWIW, I'd in particular like to hear from people in their twenties or
>> younger on "don't let's" as age may very well be a factor.
>>
>> BB
>>
>
> It's not only age, or geography.  My wife, who's 1.5 years older than
> I am and also from N.Y. and Connecticut, is not a "don't let's"
> speaker.  I'd ask my kids but they're not around at the moment, and
> the cats are mum.
>
> LH
>
>
>> Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>>> At 2:33 PM -0800 1/16/08, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> As far as I can tell, it seems to be akin to doubling up modals, similar
>>>> to saying "I must should". (I know people use that in some dialects, but
>>>> it is still seems ungrammatical for me.) BB
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Well, it might be, but there's no correlation in terms of who finds
>>> these grammatical.  (I don't speak double-modal natively, but I might
>>> could learn.)  I'm still not sure (maybe this is what Ron was getting
>>> at) that it makes sense to describe a construction that's widely
>>> attested and that many speakers are comfortable with as
>>> "ungrammatical" tout court, as opposed to "ungrammatical for me".
>>> Maybe this is a tempest in a teapot, but while I'm already somewhat
>>> uncomfortable with the use of "ungrammatical" for forms that are
>>> dialectally restricted, I guess I'm especially sensitive to it when
>>> it's my own dialect which is so characterized!  Don't let's quarrel
>>> about terminology...
>>>
>>> LH
>>>
>>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>

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