Nik:
> At any rate, "A dog is had by me" doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as
> "A dog is been with me", which is completely senseless.
That should be "A dog is been with by me".
*"No dog may be had by convicted felons."
= *"No dog may be been with by convicted felons."
Matt:
> "A dog is had by me" sounds grammatical to me--but only under an
> unintended (and, in this context, rather dirty) reading of "have".
I agree. And note that "the man with a dog" cannot mean "the man who
has/had sexual congress with a dog". Therefore this is a different homonymous
HAVE, perhaps related to HAVE 'enjoy' in Nik's earlier "a good time was
had by all".
--And.