do, v.i.

Mon Jan 17 18:49:17 UTC 2011

"Shall we purchase another tea cosy?" "Oh, let's do!"

That sounds normal (though I use the word loosely), but it seems to
truncate, "Let's do just that!" rather than express he idea of taking
effective action generally.

It would seem so far that Clinton's usage is indeed either surprisingly
archaic or else new and hip.

The only other somewhat comparable ex. I can think of is from Longfellow's
"Psalm of Life" (and it's from long ago and it's poetic):

"Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate...."

Even this seems to be a slightly difference nuance: "doing
constructive things" rather than "getting things done effectively."

JL

On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 1:39 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: do, v.i.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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."
> >>>>  >
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>  --
> >>>   "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
> >
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> >
>
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> 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."

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