Re: Inversion for subjunctive (was "Get" passive)

Paul Kershaw, On 25/02/2009 15:26:
> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Michael Poxon <mike@...>
>> Not sure which side of the Atlantic is meant by "Rightpondia" - but here in the
>> UK, "I've a cold" or "have you a pen" sounds definitely American.
>> We'd always say "I've got a cold" and "have you got a pen"... well, maybe not
>> always, but they're the normal, everyday, versions.
>> Mike
>
> The upshoot of the recent discussion I had was people from the UK
> insisting that "I've a cold" is something only said stateside and
> people stateside insisting "I've a cold" is something only said in
> the UK.
>
> I believe it was accepted in the UK longer than in the US, but it
> also appears that hardly anybody says it anymore anywhere.>
You haven't to make such sweeping generalizations, Paul... Maybe the north of
Britain's couple of dozen million inhabitants count as "hardly anybody", but
we've getting on for 1500 years of history speaking English, have we not...

--And. (writing in contemporary English)

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