Did with/did to (heard on NPR)

[Jonathan Lighter]

My sense is much like Michael's.  I'd translate this "did with" as more like
"did in regard to" or "did about" than "did to."

It's the sort of the thing I might say if I were a bit distracted - it's
"wrong" but not impossible.

JL

On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 9:33 AM, Michael Covarrubias <mcovarru at purdue.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Michael Covarrubias <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Did with/did to (heard on NPR)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Oct20, 2010, at 6:24 AM, Barbara Need wrote:
> >
> > …Thomas' wife sent a message (e-mail?) to Anita hill
> > asking her to apologize for what she "did with" Mr.
> > Thomas.
> >
> > My first reaction was to wonder if Mrs. Thomas thought that Ms. Hill
> > and Mr. Thomas had engaged in sex and was asking for an apology. If
> > she were asking Ms. Hill to apologize for having accused her husband,
> > I would have expected "did to." Are there dialects in which "did with"
> > would refer to the accusation rather than the act?
> >
> > Barbara
> >
>
> at least in my dialect it's possibly acceptable. (midwest, mostly michigan)
>
> i might expect "did with" if she meant something close to what my wife
> means when she asks what i "did with the leftovers." — sometimes i show them
> utter disrespect.
>
> something between that and a question like "what did you do with" this or
> that situation.
>
> but the first reading, of consensual behavior, did jump out at me first.
>
> michael
>
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