This is a question mostly for Jerry Dan (our resident linguist) but anyone else can take a crack at it.
I was wondering if there is a name for phrases in which the English (or whatever language) is deliberately inproper for purposes of effect.
A couple of my favorite examples of such usage are:
"Don't nobody go nowhere." - Marvin Berry in Back to the Future.
"That don't make no sense!" - Pete in Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
On the one hand you might say they are colloquialisms. But that's too broad of a definition. A lot of things are colloquialisms but aren't deliberate improper English.
Is there a name for this specific type of usage?
Just curious. Thanks.
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While were on the subject, here's a 2nd question. Does the synonmym 'quiver' as in "Her lip began to quiver as a tear formed in her eye," have the same origin as the word 'quiver' in "He keeps his quiver well stocked with arrows?"
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I was wondering if there is a name for phrases in which the English (or whatever language) is deliberately inproper for purposes of effect.
A couple of my favorite examples of such usage are:
"Don't nobody go nowhere." - Marvin Berry in Back to the Future.
"That don't make no sense!" - Pete in Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
On the one hand you might say they are colloquialisms. But that's too broad of a definition. A lot of things are colloquialisms but aren't deliberate improper English.
Is there a name for this specific type of usage?
Just curious. Thanks.
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While were on the subject, here's a 2nd question. Does the synonmym 'quiver' as in "Her lip began to quiver as a tear formed in her eye," have the same origin as the word 'quiver' in "He keeps his quiver well stocked with arrows?"
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The best I can come up with is the observation that both quotes you cited were double negatives. Double negatives are among the least justifiably maligned features of colloquial English. It was quite proper in Old English, even through Chaucerian English and early Modern English, to use double negatives for emphasis. In fact, Appalachian/Southern English continues many archaisms from older varieties of English. Ancient Greek did it quite regularly, as does Japanese today. It wasn't until some smart-butts decided that "two negatives make a positive" (even though everyone knows good and well that a positive is not meant) that people started getting picky about double negatives.
As for a broader term meaning what you described, I know no specific term. Linguists talk about "marked" usage for rhetorical effect, but that's about as close as I can get.
No, two different "quivers". The verb is from Anglo-Saxon, but the noun is a borrowing from French, which apparently took and modified a word used by the Huns. Interesting, eh?
As for a broader term meaning what you described, I know no specific term. Linguists talk about "marked" usage for rhetorical effect, but that's about as close as I can get.
No, two different "quivers". The verb is from Anglo-Saxon, but the noun is a borrowing from French, which apparently took and modified a word used by the Huns. Interesting, eh?
~ Member: Tex Murphy's Mutant League, Crazy 888's Chapter~
*Revitalizing Old San Francisco's Chandler Avenue District With Style*
(also known as Steve Douglas, but usually by people less awesome than UTMers)
*Revitalizing Old San Francisco's Chandler Avenue District With Style*
(also known as Steve Douglas, but usually by people less awesome than UTMers)
...Quite. I just got home, so I didn't get to show off my knowledge of the english language.
I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling Jerry Dan!
Here's something completely different, but still funny and sorta interesting. How is it that someone can suddenly turn around and say the following to you, completely out of the blue and spur of the moment, and referring to a mundane work task:
"F*** the zombies!! We're doing this Taliban-style!!"
Some of the people I work with are... I was gonna say 'different', but I think I'll settle for f****ing weird. Yes...
-Fred
I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling Jerry Dan!
Here's something completely different, but still funny and sorta interesting. How is it that someone can suddenly turn around and say the following to you, completely out of the blue and spur of the moment, and referring to a mundane work task:
"F*** the zombies!! We're doing this Taliban-style!!"
Some of the people I work with are... I was gonna say 'different', but I think I'll settle for f****ing weird. Yes...
-Fred
Pirates, vampires, zombies, ninjas, ghouls, aliens, goblins, monsters, robots, sorcerers, undead, werewolves, demons, mutated dinosaur-cyborgs and those pesky phone salesmen! The shotgun is a one-size-fits-all solution!
You know, that sounds like something I would say on the spur of the moment at work. That or ... "We can't let the cup runneth over! If the cup runneth over the mess will be ungodly! You FOOL!"
This was said the other day when the guy that worked the shift in front of me didn't empty the grease traps on the grill.
This was said the other day when the guy that worked the shift in front of me didn't empty the grease traps on the grill.
I'm not fat ... I'm festively plump.
Malapropism? Na, not in this context. A good example of a malapropism would be, for instance;
"Meteor shower!! Take erasive action!!"
(Yes, I saw that movie.)
-Fred
"Meteor shower!! Take erasive action!!"
(Yes, I saw that movie.)
-Fred
Pirates, vampires, zombies, ninjas, ghouls, aliens, goblins, monsters, robots, sorcerers, undead, werewolves, demons, mutated dinosaur-cyborgs and those pesky phone salesmen! The shotgun is a one-size-fits-all solution!