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Article #171

Re: English and its Mutilation

#171
From: Bob McQueer
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 00:19
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> "I did not get the invite."

Bothersome, but you are fighting a losing battle.  My edition of the AHD
(American Heritage Dictionary) lists this usage as "informal".

> "Dont do drugs." (Seen on billboards all over the country.)

Originally a slang usage that never bothered me because I first heard it as
slang.  It seems to be finding its way into accepted informal speech as well.
Doesn't seem to have found its way into the AHD, at least in my edition, but
it is worth noting that there are other slang / informal usages of "do" -
slang speech seems to like twisting the verb "do" into new meanings - women
may "do" their faces, one may "do up" a package or a report ... .

> "Why Bush cannot be beat". (Instead of .... cannot be beaten).

I agree.  It's obnoxious.  "cannot be beat" as a slang expression is more
normally used to assert that something is superlative ("A cold beer on a
hot day ..."), rather than as a comment on an actual contest.  AHD has no
comment on this.
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Message-ID: <1992Jul29.001937.5783@pony.Ingres.COM>
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!mips!rtech!ingres!bobm
References: <9207282034.AA09794@nms.netman>

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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!mips!rtech!ingres!bobm
From: bobm@Ingres.COM (Bob McQueer)
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: Re: English and its Mutilation
Message-ID: <1992Jul29.001937.5783@pony.Ingres.COM>
Date: 29 Jul 92 00:19:37 GMT
References: <9207282034.AA09794@nms.netman>
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