John Quijada wrote:
>
> I have been pondering the strange morpho-syntax of
> the class of adverbial phrases in colloquial American
> English involving expletive nouns or expletive-like nouns
> which convey a harshly annoyed connotation. Such
> expressions include 'the hell', 'the heck,' 'the f**k', etc.
>
> [ snip ]
>
> And a different restriction appears to operate in the
> following:
>
> We trashed the hell out of his house.
> ?? We ate the hell out of those beans.
> *We closed the hell out of that door.
I find these all acceptable if the action was particularly
intense.
> The specific phrase 'the hell' (but apparently not 'the heck'
> or 'the f**k') also appears in the following construction:
>
> The hell you're going to any party!
> The hell he's marrying my daughter!
In the English of the Midwestern USA, it is acceptable (well,
at least grammatically) to say:
The fuck you're going to my party!
The fuck he's marrying my daughter!
> ANYWAY.I'm curious as to whether anyone on the list is
> aware of a formal grammatical treatment of such phrases
> in the linguistic literature. I'm especially curious as to why
> such phrases carry the highly unusual compositional
> structure of DEFINITE ARTICLE + NOUN being used
> adverbially. I can't think of any other types of nouns used
> this way in English, e.g.,
>
> *Why the table don't you call me?
> *When the sky did you get here?
> *Where in the noodle have you been?
> *They trashed the convenience out of his house.
> *The responsibility you're marrying my daughter!
> *The cat with you!
Why the dickens don't you call me?
Where the blazes have you been?
They trashed the crap out of his house.
They beat the daylights out of him.
--Ph. D.