Re: USAGE : English past tense and participle in -et

From:    Tim May <butsuri@...>
> Mark J. Reed wrote at 2003-12-28 12:58:56 (-0500)
> > On Sun, Dec 28, 2003 at 09:26:45AM -0800, Costentin Cornomorus wrote:
> > > Whatever else a fuckative may be, it's an
> > > emphatic infix. As far as I can tell from the few
> > > uses I've heard, you can stick just about
> > > anything in there.
> >
> > Except you can't.  The word "fucking" is the only
> > universally-infixable fucative, in fact.
>
> I'm not so sure about that.  Certainly you can't just put in any
> swearword you like, but I think "bloody" and "goddamn" can go just
> about anywhere "fucking" can.
This must vary according to dialect.  Certainly, most Americans
would judge "bloody" and "bloomin'" to have distinctly British
(or perhaps:  non-North-American) flavors. I can, however, get
"frickin'", but not "goddamn".

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Thomas Wier            "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
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Chicago, IL 60637

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