[Ads-l] WE KEEP US SAFE

Sun Sep 25 23:58:41 UTC 2022

It's not really ungrammatical. As a number of linguists (me included) have
discussed, contrastive focus pronominals are natural and occur widely in a
context in which either the pronoun or antecedent contrasts with an
explicitly or implicitly evoked alternative--but only if the pronoun is
first or second person. (In the same context, names are possible, but not
third person non-reflexive pronouns.). Examples from a paper I published a
while back and an earlier one by Gregory Ward:

a. He nods but I’m not sure he believes me. I’m not sure *I* believe me.

(Sandra Scoppetone mystery novel I’ll Be Leaving You Always, 1993, p. 82)

b. It was like an out-of-body experience. Nobody wanted to look at me.
Hell, *I*

wouldn’t look at me either.

(ex-Oakland A’s pitcher Dennis Eckersley, on aftermath of giving up
celebrated

game-winning World Series home run to the gimpy Kirk Gibson, 15

Oct. 1988)

c. “New York didn’t destroy me. *I *destroyed me. I take full
responsibility.”

(Darryl Strawberry, quoted in NYTMagazine p. 58, 15 Apr. 2001)

d. “Let me toast you.” She toasted me. You’ll notice she didn’t offer me a
drink

so that I could toastme. (Ed Gorman (2001), Save the Last Dance for Me, p.

135)

e. “Teams are going to be waiting. People expect us to win; *we* expect us
to

win.” (Jason Sehorn of the division-winning Giants, quoted in NYT 10 Sep.

1998, C7)

f. “You told me, that’s the important thing. Besides, you don’t fancy you
like I

do.” (from Neurotica, SueMargolis novel, 1999, p. 272

In the cases above, it's subject contrast that's relevant, as in "*We *keep
us safe", contrasting with X keeps us safe for some other X that you might
unwisely depend on to do so. (Note example (e) above for another 1st plural
case.) But object contrast works too, again only for 1st and 2nd person
pronouns (and names).

a. I believed in you. I always believed in you. I just didn’t believe in
*me*. (Blane

to Andie, last line of Pretty in Pink, 1986  movie)

b. “You’re looking at me like I’m some kind of monster.” I shook my head.
“I’m

not looking at you. I’m looking at *me*.” (from 1994 Stephen Greenleaf
mystery

novel, False Conception, p. 268)

c. You can’t afford to pay *you*. How are you gonna pay me? (from The
Practice,

ABC television drama)

d. TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF. YOU BELONG TO YOU. (ad for Philadelphia

Blue Cross, cited in a paper by Gregory Ward from 1983)

The last of course is possible only because it implicitly contrasts with
the (1929!) verse in which the same line occurs but ending with "me".

Some examples with names:

a. JR: Cliff is in the hospital because of you.

    Sue Ellen: No, Cliff is in the hospital because of *Cliff*. (fromDallas
episode)

b. “Maybe she [= Amanda] loves the boy too much.”

     “Amanda loves *Amanda*.” (from1985 Martha Grimes novel, The Deer Leap)

c. “Baxter looks out for *Baxter*” [referring to a local politician;
implicit contrast with whom he SHOULD look out for]

     (Philadelphia Inquirer editorial headline, 30 Oct. 1982)

d. Jeff doesn’t run for glory. He runs for *Jeff*. (Advil commercial)

LH

On Sun, Sep 25, 2022 at 5:33 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks, Chris. That connection seems undeniable. But what is the motivation
> for the quasi-ungrammatical construction there in the title, in the first
> place?
>
> Mark
>
> On Sun, Sep 25, 2022, 4:27 PM Chris Waigl <chris at lascribe.net> wrote:
>
> > It's the title of a book - I believe the flyer is likely a direct
> reference
> > to the book: http://www.beacon.org/We-Keep-Us-Safe-P1556.aspx
> >
> > On Sun, Sep 25, 2022 at 6:59 AM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > "WE KEEP US SAFE" is the headline of a sign posted on many light poles
> > and
> > > other locations in my neighborhood in Philadelphia. It seems to be a
> > flawed
> > > reflexive, where the object, though semantically identical to the
> > subject,
> > > is in the simple accusative rather than the reflexive.
> > >
> > > But I think the writer was seeing a semantic difference: addressing
> *each
> > > reader* with a call to action to protect *the entire community*: "We
> > > [individually] keep us [collectively] safe." I've redacted the name and
> > > address.
> > >
> > > ---------
> > > NOTICE OF CEASE & DESIST AGAINST
> > > **************
> > > LANDLORD AT ***************
> > >
> > > 1. HE HAS NO RENTAL LICENSE
> > > 2. HE HAS BEEN OPENLY HARASSING, ABUSING, AND TAMPERING WITH THE
> > UTILITIES
> > > OF HIS TENANTS
> > > 3. HE IS KNOWN TO ASSAULT NEIGHBORS AND BYSTANDERS ON THE STREET
> > >
> > > BE AWARE!
> > > WE KEEP US SAFE!
> > > ---------
> > >
> > > Opinions?
> > >
> > > — Mark Mandel
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Chris Waigl . chris.waigl at gmail.com . chris at lascribe.net
> > http://eggcorns.lascribe.net . http://chryss.eu
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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