Chris and Jane,

The cow going moo and the teenager going no fair are closely related, if
you follow the development of the "go" in the OED.  The OED has
citations from 1685 and 1852 of "go" in the sense of "say".  The problem
with the teenagers' usage is that it's teenagers' usage.  Since teens
are among the great innovators in language, they often come up with
usages that are frowned upon by those of us who've been there, done
that, and forgotten about it.  "Hopefully", as a sentence adverb, came
into English usage in the 1920s and people still resist it, although
they don't baulk at "most assuredly", "certainly", or "perhaps".  It's a
matter of fashion.

Herb


Jane, please explain your message about the cow etc.

Thank you,

Christine Gray

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jane Saral
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 7:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: I'm just not sure...use of jabberwocky

If the cow goes moo, then all the teenagers telling stories by saying
"Then she goes 'No' and then I go "No fair'" etc. are not wrong!

Jane Saral
The Westminster Schools
[log in to unmask]

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