Whyever _never_?

[Jonathan Lighter]

"1" sounds sort of OK,  but "2" sounds much better.

In other words, I'd probably never say "1."

JL

On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 8:48 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Whyever _never_?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> TV-drama dialog:
>
> 1) "You can't run away from this, just because you want to pretend
> that I _never *did*_ it!"
>
> I've been familiar with this - to me - strange,  use of _never_ by
> white people practically since I arrived in Saint Louis in 1942. I
> heard it from children of my own age, I have no idea whether this use
> of _never_ was just getting started, then, or had always been the
> case, but, because of Jim Crow, I first heard it only after leaving
> Texas.
>
> Since 300,000,000 million native-speakers can't be wrong, I have to
> assume that the problem is mine. But, IAC, after seventy years, I
> *still* feel that  the only "correct" form is,
>
> 2) "You can't run away from this, just because you want to pretend
> that I _didn't *do*_ it!"
>
> You'd think that, after nearly three-quarters of a century, I'd never
> notice this "never," anymore. But, I just can't get ready for it.
>
> <sigh!> I really have to use, I _wouldn't notice_ this "never," anymore.
>
> It's probably a consequence of brain-damage at birth or something.
>
> Youneverknow.
>
> --
> -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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