----- Original Message ----
From: Karl Hagen <
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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
>
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