Who's diddling and how?

[Laurence Horn]

At 1:35 PM -0400 7/16/08, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>At 7/16/2008 01:24 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>
>>To return to the original query.
>>
>>Try this X-rated thought experiment on your wise-ass students (18
>>and over only, please!).
>
>An insufficient poll, due to one limitation in its wording.
>
>Imagine you're walking along an isolated forest path. You turn a
>corner and discover, to your surprise, a naked couple "doing it" in
>some semblance of a female on top position.

And especially if she is (with the assistance of technology) doing
the penetrating...  (In fact, that situation might render the first
part of the exclamation even more likely.)

Granted, Jon and others will correctly observe that these are
atypical contexts, at least until the culture evolves...

LH

>Now imagine that "X" in
>the following sentences stands for the "f-word."  Which of the
>following exclamations is most likely to be produced by your brain?
>(No other exclamation allowed for the present purpose.):
>
>A. "Omigod! They're Xing!"
>B. "Omigod! He's Xing her!"
>C. "Omigod! She's Xing him!"
>
>I wonder if C would move up past B, or perhaps -- depending on how
>religiously fundamentalist the thinker is -- even past A.
>
>Joel
>
>>
>>Imagine you're walking along an isolated forest path. You turn a
>>corner and discover, to your surprise, a naked couple "doing it" in
>>the some semblance of either the missionary or canine-related
>>position.  Now imagine that "X" in the following sentences stands
>>for the "f-word."  Which of the following exclamations is most
>>likely to be produced by your brain? (No other exclamation allowed
>>for the present purpose.):
>>
>>A. "Omigod! They're Xing!"
>>B. "Omigod! He's Xing her!"
>>C. "Omigod! She's Xing him!"
>>
>>I strongly suspect that this is the order in which the utterances
>>will in most cases occur to them. I further predict that, when time
>>machines become inexpensive and practicable, you will find that most
>>speakers you test going back to the 16th C. (and earlier if you
>>replace the "f-word" with a period synonym like "swive") will yield
>>comparable results.
>>
>>Choice C seems to me unlikely in this situation, but hardly
>>"ungrammatical" or even grammatically (as opposed to
>>psychologically) peculiar.
>>
>>My belief based on HDAS exx., etc.: Such verbs most typically take
>>masculine subjects (for what I believe are obvious physiological
>>reasons), but in appropriate contexts feminine subjects are also idomatic.
>>
>>JL
>>
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>
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