[Ads-l] WE KEEP US SAFE

Mon Sep 26 19:08:47 UTC 2022

Exactly. At least that's how I read it. (And as mentioned, the contrast can
be implicitly rather than explicitly evoked.)

LH

On Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 2:09 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Here are some examples from twitter using contrast in 2014 and 2016.
>
> Twitter handle: Zena Sharman @zenasharman
> Timestamp: 6:14 PM · Apr 7, 2014
> https://twitter.com/zenasharman/status/453294835969970176
> [Begin tweet]
> Police & prisons don't keep us safe, we keep us safe. CeCe McDonald,
> Reina Gossett & @deanspade in conversation: http://bit.ly/1impJZo
> [End tweet]
>
> Twitter handle: CWHC @CWHC1
> Timestamp: 8:01 PM · Apr 10, 2014
> https://twitter.com/CWHC1/status/454408764566011904
> [Begin tweet]
> "Prisons don't keep us safe, we keep us safe." #BecauseOfCeCe
> http://ow.ly/vEaRU
> [End tweet]
>
> Twitter handle: Katie Peralta Soloff @katieperalta
> Timestamp: 8:13 PM · Nov 30, 2016
> https://twitter.com/katieperalta/status/804131344695644160
> [Begin tweet]
> "Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe!" #keithlamontscott protesters
> chanted at CMPD at Trade and College streets uptown
> [End tweet]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sun, Sep 25, 2022 at 10:29 PM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Ahh. Thanks for the detailed exposition.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > On Sun, Sep 25, 2022, 7:59 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > > 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
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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