_Take_ v. _bring_

[Jonathan Lighter]

I've been noticing this for a number of years - but mainly in TV
commercials.

If it isn't entirely unconscious (and not much in TV commercials is) it may
be because "bring" suggests abundance and coming closer to a destination -
in ads always a destination of fun, adventure, luxury, and hotties - while
"take" suggests dearth and
separation.

If you think that's insane, I assure you that contemporary  literary
criticism reads far, far more into words like "bring" and "take" than I
could even begin to go into here.  Their powerful sexuality, for example.

JL

On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 12:16 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:      _Take_ v. _bring_
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _Bring_ your photos, docs, and videos anywhere!
>
>
> I'd use _take_ in this environment. But, WTF, I catch their drift and
> so will everybody else. The distinction is otiose.
>
> --
> -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
>
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