[Ads-l] on accident

[Jonathan Lighter]

> a borrowing from children's language.

I concur, and almost said so.

I can't recall ever hearing the phrase before, but I was born so long
ago that a) I probably didn't and b) might not remember if I did.

Besides being a borrowing, it may also be some kind of hypercorrection
oin the theory that "[prep] purpose" and "[prep] accident" should be
precisely parallel.

Does anyone say "by purpose"? ("By design" doesn't count.)

JL

On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 1:10 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>> On Jun 17, 2016, at 12:10 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>> Typed sign under doorknob in doctor's office:
>>
>> "Be careful of doorknob button. Please do not lock door on accident."
>>
>> Clearly infl. by "on purpose."
>>
>> JL
>>
>> --
>
> I think we've had threads about "on accident" in the past.  It's certainly been around for decades and speculated (at least by me) to be a borrowing from children's language.
>
> LH
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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