Watermelons are long to grow

[Mark Mandel]

I don't see any need to postulate an elision. Getting used to something is a
process that takes time. Is the verb "get used to" *ever* used for an
instant acceptance? (The following are my own judgements.)
   It took me a week to get used to my new shoes.
   I got used to my new shoes in only a day or two.
   I got used to my new shoes almost right away.
   ?? I got used to my new shoes as soon as I put them on.
   This kind of shoes take getting used to.
   ?* This kind of shoes {take no getting used to | don't take getting used
to}.

m a m

On Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 2:18 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

> At 1:12 PM -0500 8/7/10, Jim Parish wrote:
> >Laurence Horn wrote:
> >>  And FWIW, there's a construction I've always puzzled at:  "X takes
> >>  getting used to" (where "time" is swallowed up the way it sort of is
> >>  in your construction).
> >
> >Hm. I've always assumed that the elided noun was closer to "effort"
> >than to "time".
> >
> Makes sense as well.  There's also "takes some getting used to" or
> even "takes a certain amount of getting used to", which make is seem
> as though nothing's been elided.
>
> LH
>
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