"belong to be"

[Patty]

Ah - the semantics make it work for me.  This is a judgement declaration -
here's the syntax:

 You belong to be in [there]
 You belong to be in [the penitentiary]

Also, in my semantics, there is no *other* possible judgement.  This is
"ought/ should/ deserve".
You want them *in* a specific place, locked in, no way out

Alternatively, "ought to be/ should be/deserve to be" modifies 'be' and
makes it weaker, there is an opportunity to get out of jail :)   Help me
with the syntax on this one if this is the semantics, would it be:

 You belong to be [there]
 You belong to be [in the penitentiary]

(maybe not, that doesn't look right)

Regards,

Patty

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 6:33 AM
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "belong to be"


> Patty, "You belong in the penitentiary" sounds absolutely normal to me.
>
> "You belong *to be* in the penitentiary" sounds borderline insane.
>
> I'm not kidding about "borderline." Each time I think of it, it seems to
> shift from clearly OK to virtually impossible.
>
> Perhaps it's because the "to be" is logically sound but (to me)
> syntactically alien.
>
> Contrast:
>
> 1. "You belong in jail!"  (Perfectly normal.)
>
> 2. "You belong to be in jail!"  (Cue Twilight Zone theme.)
>
> Note too how the meaning of "belong" changes from "ought to be/ should be/
> deserve to be" in 1, to merely "ought/ should/ deserve" in 2.
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 12:12 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: "belong to be"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 10:05 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > "You *belong* to be in the penitentiary!"
>>
>> Cf. chapter title (quotes original):
>>
>> _"What We Belong to Be"_
>>
>> http://goo.gl/k2Aee
>>
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> -----
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
>> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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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