believe you me in oed

[Jonathan Lighter]

ECCO finds nothing at all for the following:

believest thou me

believ'st thou me

Then there are 17,000+ hits for "believe you me."

Every one I've checked is actually no more than "believe me."

Not that I've checked every one, but the total absence of the other forms
bodes poorly.

JL

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: believe you me in oed
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I should say, "World War II writings by veterans," to be precise.
>
> They may all have decided to make it up years later, those rascals.
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 1:43 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Common in WWII, but more often "I shit you not."
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 1:24 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: believe you me in oed
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> There's "I kid you not", of Jack Paar (at least evanescent) fame.
> >>
> >> LH
> >>
> >> On Sep 23, 2011, at 10:39 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >>
> >> > Nice one, Dave.
> >> >
> >> > Just check the syntax.
> >> >
> >> > JL
> >> >
> >> > On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:19 AM, David Barnhart <
> >> dbarnhart at highlands.com>wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >> >> -----------------------
> >> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> >> Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
> >> >> Subject:      believe you me in oed
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >>
> >> >> The turn of phrase must go back further than 1808 (OED's earliest
> >> quote).
> >> >>
> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >> 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."
> >> >
> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> > 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
>



--
"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