Okay, we're not done. Linda Linda Comerford 317.786.6404 [log in to unmask] www.comerfordconsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Hagen Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2008 7:44 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: done 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/ 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/