"What part of no don't you understand?"

[Laurence Horn]

On Jun 24, 2012, at 9:05 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Asked sarcastically.
> 
> The effective origin appears to be:
> 
> 1994 Dennis G. Korby _What Part of No Don't You Understand?: Avoiding and
> Defending Against Rape_ (Livonia, Mich.: Koto Press). (Published July 1.)
> 

I suspect the effective origin was the eponymous Lorrie Morgan song from 1992.  Actually, the song was officially entitled "What Part of No"; lyrics viewable at http://www.metrolyrics.com/what-part-of-no-lyrics-lorrie-morgan.html

I'd like to think that the first linguistics study using the title "What part of no don't you understand?" was Bridget Copley's 1996 senior essay by Bridget Copley under my supervision, on the representation of negation in ASL.  

LH 


> The GB distribution suggests that the phr. was flourishing by 2000.
> 
> JL
> 
> --
> "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