Julie --
I realize you probably meant that last part as a rhetorical question,
but it made me curious (and I'm supposed to be doing some work that's
avoidance-triggering-y).
I can't speak to the origins of the expression, but I did a quick check
of the Corpus of Historical American English
(http://corpus.byu.edu/coha/) and found at least one example from 1832
that seems to be using it in its modern idiomatic sense (" Whoop! Whoop!
let him have it! -- sing out! -- keep it up, Flower! " " Wilful! you
rascal, " cried Ned"; from John P. Kennedy's _Swallow Barn_). COHA
doesn't go pre-1800, so the lack of search hits before that doesn't
signify anything; given the "age" of its component parts, it may have
been around for a very long time. From the COHA sample, though, there
seems to be a pattern with only a few hits in the early 1800s and then a
marked increase in the 1860-1900 stretch. That may just reflect changing
attitudes about the use of colloquialisms in print, however.
COHA, and COCA (...Contemporary American), make great classroom
resources, by the way (I know, I've posted something to that effect
before, but it's true, and I think these resources are underused).
Searching for fixed expressions (say, if you want to look at changes in
how people use the word 'relatable') is straightforward; the fancier
stuff (like wildcards, etc.) is there to be used but you don't *have* to
use it to check simple things. If you do over ten searches, you need to
register, but it's free (I *think* the registration is so that Mark
Davies, the linguist who runs the sites, can put the numbers into
requests for funding).
--- Bill Spruiell
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Julie Nichols
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 1:25 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Teaching English Grammar
I too teach first-year comp, and I wish I could sit in on your classes,
Eduard! I second Bud's comment that
"...the more people who are discussing language issues, the better off
we all are. When I have the time to read and think about these posts, I
can learn something new. That is a good thing. I vote that we stay
together."
Thanks for all the interesting posts on the history of the language as
well as the technical names for, and development of thought about, the
grammatical constructions in English and other languages. All of this is
fascinating to me, a fiction writer and professor of creative writing.
Let's keep it up! (Now where did THAT construction come from?!)
Best to all,
Julie J. Nichols, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of English and Literature
Utah Valley University MS 153
800 West University Parkway
Orem UT 84058
801-863-6795
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