"Don't Say Gay"

[Randy Alexander]

No, it's not a subject, amd yes, it's not so strange a construction.  I'll try to elaborate when I get home (in a few hours).

Randy

Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM> wrote:

>---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>Subject:      Re: "Don't Say Gay"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>On Feb 16, 2012, at 8:30 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>
>> On Feb 16, 2012, at 8:15 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>>
>>> That's the name of the Tennessee bill that prohibits the discussion of
>>> any gay issues in schools prior to 9th grade. But this is not why I am
>>> forwarding this. John DeBerry (D-Memphis) made an argument in support of
>>> the proposition:
>>>
>>>> The basic right as an American is my right to life, my right to
>>>> liberty and my right to the pursuit of happiness. Within that includes
>>>> being able to run my home, raise my children as I see fit and to
>>>> indoctrinate them as I see fit.
>>>
>>> What got my attention was the beginning of the second sentence, "within
>>> that includes..." that treats "within that" as a subject.
>>>
>>>    VS-)
>>
>> Interesting catch. And it sounds perfectly normal, evidence that grammar is a construction fabricated from patterns in speech.
>
>
>BTW, this doesn't feel like "within that" is the subject.
>
>To me, it feels like "within that" is preposed as a topic and "includes" somehow is "is included." I can't justify it, though.
>
>Benjamin Barrett
>Seattle, WA
>
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