[Ads-l] WE KEEP US SAFE

[Mark Mandel]

Thank you Amy, you've captured what I was thinking and expressed it much
more clearly than any of the ways I was contemplating.

On Mon, Sep 26, 2022, 12:46 PM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:

> On 9/26/22 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> > 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).
>
>
> I think a big difference between your examples, Prof. Horn, and Mark's
> is that the "WE KEEP US SAFE" doesn't have a precedent to create the
> contrast/cohesion with. That is, the "me" or "us" that's retained in the
> construction is often explicitly echoing/repeating the "me" or "us" of a
> preceding clause:
>
> 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)
>
> 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)
>
>
> Having said that, it didn't strike me as ungrammatical either. It struck
> me as a stylistic/usage choice, and one that did not sound funny to me.
>
> The connection to the title that Chris made notwithstanding, I think
> that if it had be "WE KEEP OURSELVES SAFE" I would interpret the
> "OURSELVES" as meaning a group of individuals as individuals (that is,
> it is your own individual responsibility to keep yourself safe as an
> individual); with the "US", I interpret it as a group of individuals as
> a group (that is, it's your responsibility to look out for yourself and
> others within this group in order to keep the group safe).
>
> ---Amy West
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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