Not A Newbie, but Maybe Worth a Mention

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:36 AM -0400 7/16/08, Neal Whitman wrote:
>I blogged about attributive adjectives phrases involving 'too' a few years
>ago (http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2004/07/24/it-takes-too-baby/) and
>found some examples involving mass nouns and plural nouns like yours.

We've discussed that here too (I recall finding a few examples), and
it's probably also shown up on Language Log.  Ben, Arnold?

LH

>I was
>looking for examples with the intrusive 'of', and found things like "too big
>of paper". For some reason, I didn't finish the job and look for examples
>fitting the frame 'too * a [mass noun or plural noun]', but I think I will
>now.
>
>Neal
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Doug Harris" <cats22 at FRONTIERNET.NET>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 7:35 AM
>Subject: Not A Newbie, but Maybe Worth a Mention
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail
>>header -----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Doug Harris <cats22 at FRONTIERNET.NET>
>>Subject:      Not A Newbie, but Maybe Worth a Mention
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>This is one of those constructions I've heard for many a year,
>>and sort of cringed at because it _so_ feels incorrect, somehow:
>>
>>>From an LA Times story this morning on the high school grade
>>achievements of Asians vs Latinos:
>>
>>"I had an Asian friend, but he didn't necessarily get _that great a
>>grades_."
>>
>>I instinctively know what it means, but I'm not so sure how this and
>>other speakers 'justify' it.
>>Any thoughts?
>>dh
>>
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