floor 'ground'

[Charles C Doyle]

The current war against ISIS is boots on the floor?

--Charlie

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Joel S. Berson <Berson at ATT.NET>
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2014 11:05 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: floor 'ground'

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
Subject:      Re: floor 'ground'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 9/26/2014 10:15 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>I've never encountered this substitution, or the conflation in this
>direction, but I remember it in the opposite direction.  I don't
>know if it's specifically New York area, like "stand on (line)" and
>"take"/"bring" reversals, but I remember people, including I think
>me as a child, being corrected for saying "(fall on) the ground" for
>"the floor" when inside--
>
>"Don't eat that--it fell on the ground"
>"You mean the floor"

I (also a New York Citier) sometimes use the "wrong" word (both
ways), but I'm always embarrassed after it emerges and sometimes
correct myself.  Perhaps, however, that's because my mother was a
high school English teacher.

Joel

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

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