-----
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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