do, v.i.

[Garson O'Toole]

There is a book called "Let's Do" that might contain an instance that
fits your qualifications. How would you analyze the two examples below
from the book?

Cite: 2004, Let's Do by Rebecca Meacham [Issue 3 of Katherine Anne
Porter Prize in Short Fiction series], University of North Texas
Press. (Google Books preview)

Oh, let's do! Let's do a picnic, a midnight swim, cow-tipping,
marriage! Let's do our own wallpapering, drive our way out West! Then,
there had been no reason to decline. Any wrong turn could be a lark,
every misstep alighted in madcap charm. Let's do our kitchen in
purple, buy a used German car! Error was burnished by college tries. …

Did she want to take the chance? What a mockery of choice. With a
final, weary burst of faith, Estelle had said, Oh, let's do.

Maybe the first is a truncation and the second is an affirmation.


On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 1:09 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: do, v.i.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 11:58 AM -0500 1/17/11, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>Mostly frozen forms, a parody, and the ex. of a different meaning
>
> In particular, examples of the auxiliary verb (U.K. "I didn't go but
> I might have done", corresponding to U.S. "...but I might have
> (gone)") don't count.  Nor does "That'll do", "It will do", which is
> again a different "do" = 'suffice'.
>
> None of the relevant cases sound possible to me, although somehow "I
> have to do" sounds like a euphemism in the making.
>
> LH
>
>>  don't
>>count. I said "natural contemporary speech."
>>
>>Ever heard:
>>
>>?He sure knows how to do!
>>
>>?We'd better start to do on this matter.
>>
>>?I've had trouble before, but this time I think I can do!
>>
>>?Why aren't you doing?
>>
>>JL
>>
>>On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Jonathan Lighter
>><wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 11:17 AM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>>  -----------------------
>>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>  Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
>>>>  Subject:      Re: do, v.i.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>  Those who cannot do, teach.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>>>  From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>>>>  Of
>>>>  Ronald Butters
>>>>  Sent: Monday, January 17, 2011 10:17 AM
>>>>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>>  Subject: Re: do, v.i.
>>>>
>>>>  Do unto others before they do unto you.
>>>>
>>>>  Do as I might, I could not do enough.
>>>>
>>>>  Still, I might have done.
>>>>
>>>>  On Jan 17, 2011, at 9:00 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  > At the memorial service for Richard Holbrooke last week, Pres. Clinton
>>>>  > observed that "I loved the guy because he could do - doing in diplomacy
>>>>  > saves lives."  He added, "He could do and do."
>>>>  >
>>>>  > This reminds me of the Witch in Macbeth who says, "I'll do and I'll do
>>>>  and
>>>>  > I'll do."  But many things remind me of the Witches n Macbeth.
>>>>  >
>>>>  > The point is that that this usage, which Clinton may or may not have
>>>>  picked
>>>>  > up from the Witches, is something I can't recall ever hearing it in
>>>>  natural,
>>>>  > contemporary speech.  The OED entry on "do" is so daunting that I
>>>>  haven't
>>>>  > checked adequately for its latest ex..The sense is sonething like "to
>>>>  carry
>>>>  > out one's intentions with effect; take effective action"
>>>>  >
>>>>  > JL
>>>>  > --
>>>>  > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>>>>  truth."
>>>>  >
>>>>  > ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>  > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>
>>>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>
>>>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  --
>>>   "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>>>  truth."
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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