Don't let's

[Laurence Horn]

FWIW, besides the various British hits (Noel Coward's WWII fave
"Don't let's be beastly to the Germans"; cf. also the celebrated
memoir of a Rhodesian girlhood, _Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight_)
and the (I think) aforementioned hit single "Don't Let's Start" from
They Might Be Giants (as well as a new U.S. indie movie of the same
name currently in production according to IMDb), there's a song that
pops up on google, "Don't lets talk about Lisa", by Lonestar.
Contemporary, non-British, and featuring the eloquent couplet
"Priscilla was a killer/Meaner than Godzilla".

You can also find the classic (if non-contemporary) final
double-cigarette-lighting scene from "Now Voyager" in which Bette
Davis beseeches Paul Henreid, "Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the
moon, we have the stars".  Go to YouTube, plug in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-KGiwGn1d8, listen to Bette as the
music wells up behind her, and *then* tell me you want to kick "don't
let's" out of the language.

LH

At 4:51 PM -0800 1/16/08, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>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
>>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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