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Re: Ass metonymy (WAS: a bad essay)

From:Sai Emrys <saizai@...>
Date:Saturday, February 7, 2009, 9:35
On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 10:13 PM, Paul Kershaw <ptkershaw@...> wrote:
> I question your use of "even." Ass can be used as a subject in SAE: "Some ass > just called me. Stupid pranks."
IMO though this is a very distinct use of 'ass' - it's the old use (i.e. jackass, an annoying person); not the AAVE use (i.e. metonymic buttocks for the person).
> I concur that "They ass" as a subject in AAVE seems forced, although it does > occur. A Google search turned up this hit, for instance: "If they caught you > looking at them, they ass would play dead." (Karen Williams, "Harlem on Lock: > A Novel") > > By the way, Googling "they ass" with quotes results in a wide array of rather > violent links, asses getting whupped, kicked, capped, and beaten. ;)
Indeed. All of which fit my theory that it generally is incompatible with agentivity. E.g. I really doubt you'll ever see "my ass is about to beat yo ass". That's always "I'm 'bout to beat yo ass" - no subject metonomy. - Sai

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R A Brown <ray@...>