SUM: "On accident"

[Chad D. Nilep]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I am composing a perhaps premature summary of responses to my query about
the occurrence of the phrase "on accident," as I will be away for several
weeks.

ORIGINAL QUERY:

In the western USA, it is not uncommon to hear the phrase "on accident," as
in:

     I took his book on accident. I thought it was mine.

This form seems to replace the phrase "by accident" by analogy to the phrase
"on purpose."

[some omission]

Have others noticed the use of "on accident" and "by accident"? Could you
please respond with your geographical location and approximate age. Any
related comments or analysis would also be welcome.

END ORIGINAL QUERY

By far, the majority of respondents report _never_ having heard the
expression "on accident." Several reported that the expression seems marked
or "clearly ungrammatical." No respondents from outside of the USA, of any
age, report having heard the expression, and most from the USA report never
having heard it.

Leslie Barratt of Indiana State University adds this interesting
observation:

>I have been collecting data on this for about 3 years and will be writing
it up soon.  I have data from surveys I >did in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan,
and California, all of which point to the same conclusion that 'on' is
replaing >'by', although the exact ages may not be the same in every area.

Britt Mize from UNC has these observations:

>When I was between the ages of 5 and 9 [c. 1978, CDN] and my family
>lived in Freeport, Texas (on the Gulf coast), some of my neighbors and
>playmates were a family with six children, some older and some younger
>than I, all of whom used "on accident" exclusively.  (I mean the kids; I
>don't know about the parents.)  I am very sure of this because we spent
>a lot of time together over a period of several years.

Mize goes on to note that other features of the childrens' dialect seem to
mark them as non-Texan.

Joel Rini, of the University of Virginia, also notes the use by his own
child.

>I have noticed that my son, Marcus Rini, age nine, consistently says "on
>accident".  He lives with us in Charlottesville, VA, where he has lived all
>his life, though his speech, in general, would not be considered
>"Virginian", rather, mid-western (parents from Michigan and Ohio).

[some omission]

>I do believe it is analogical (in the strictest sense, i.e., proportional)
>to "on purpose", the phrases being semantic opposites (although the words
>purpose and accident are not really antonyms), thus:
>
>purpose : on purpose :: accident : X = (on accident)

So it seems that the usage is emerging, at least among younger speakers. I
regret that I can cite no work published on the phenomena, though at least
two scholars seem to be working in that direction.

One more thing strikes me about these responses. A few respondents point out
that the expression does exist in areas where other people claim never to
have heard it. Could it be that this expression is so unmarked as to go
unnoticed by speakers who do not use it? Or could the usage simply be so
localized that it is never used outside of a narrowly defined peer group?

Thanks to all who responded:
Debbie McLaughlin
Claire Bowern
Margaret Sharpe
E. Bashir
Britt Mize
George Aubin
Christian Kay
Leslie Barratt
Marc Pierce
Joel Rini
Dorine S. Houston
--
Chad D. Nilep

chad.nilep at undalumni.org

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