Theodore Bernstein is one who carps about it, in _The Careful Writer_
(1965).

Paul E. Doniger wrote:
> 
> 
> "If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done
> qucikly" (/Macbeth/ 1.7.1-2). The first 'done' clearly means 'finished'.
> If it's good enough for Shakespeare, ... !
> 
>  
> 
> Also, there seems to be no prohibition regarding 'done' in Fowler's
> /Modern English Usage/, which I believe is the usage bible (if there is
> such a thing). I've never heard any complaints about this one before.
> 
>  
> 
> Paul D.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Karl Hagen <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Saturday, February 9, 2008 2:43:06 PM
> Subject: Re: done
> 
> We might equally well ask where this word rage against "done" =
> "finished" comes from, since it doesn't appear to be based on any facts
> about actual English usage.
> 
> "Done" has been used as an adjective in this sense since the 14th
> century (originally with "have", and since the 18th century with "be").
> It has been used by any number of canonical authors, including Dickens
> and Twain.
> 
> The handful of usage books that claim it's a problem are simply perverse
> and should be ignored. It's unquestionably standard.
> 
> Jane Saral wrote:
>> I know that this issue has been addressed before, but I was just at dinner
>> with someone who grows livid hearing the word "done" used to mean
>> "finished."  I have never found it particularly objectionable, though I
>> probably would not use it in really formal circumstances. (Still, I
>> might...)  Anyway, where did the usage come from?  and when did it arise?
>> Jane Saral
>> Atlanta
>>
>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
> interface at:
>>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
>> and select "Join or leave the list"
>>
>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>>
> 
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
> interface at:
>     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
> 
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
> 
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
> interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
> "Join or leave the list"
> 
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
> 

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/