_bees_

[Scott Delancey]

On Tue, 8 Apr 1997, Noel Rude wrote:

>         Ah yes, didn't think when making the post that "my airplane needs
> fixing" would also be good English.

And what probably most of the other readers of your note aren't
thinking about is that your kids grew up in Oregon, where the
_needs fixed_ construction is pretty entrenched.  The verb form
is, of course, a participle, not a past ("Do those eggs need beaten?").
This not only makes your interpretation more plausible (kids--and adults,
at least in rural western Oregon, would be much more likely to say
"NP needs fixed" than "NP needs fixing"), it also suggests the stimulus
for the reinterpretation.

Scott DeLancey