[Ads-l] Someone philosophically asks:

Arnold M. Zwicky zwicky at STANFORD.EDU
Wed Dec 21 11:51:53 UTC 2016


> On Dec 20, 2016, at 9:17 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> "Am I finished or am I done?"
> 
> I have no answer, because I'm _through_.

as usual, consult MWDEU on DONE -1 (and FINISHED and THROUGH). BE DONE and BE FINISHED both go back to the late 18th century; people were complaining about BE DONE by 1917 and then disapproval of BE DONE became part of American school grammar instruction (for reasons that are not at all clear).

arnold

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



More information about the Ads-l mailing list