believe you me in oed

[Gordon, Matthew J.]

Maybe I'm missing your point, but the verb in "believe you me" is imperative, isn't it? So 2nd singular precedents wouldn't have the indicative -est suffix.

-Matt Gordon

On Sep 23, 2011, at 2:14 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> 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

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