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

Mark J. Reed, On 24/02/2009 23:10:
> On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Michael Poxon <mike@...> wrote:
>> Not sure which side of the Atlantic is meant by "Rightpondia"
>
> The side that shows up on the Right on a normal map (where North=up).
> Leftpondia = North America, Rightpondia = Europe.
>
>> - but here in the UK, "I've a cold" or "have you a pen" sounds definitely
>> American.
>
> That is truly bizarre, because here in the US they sound definitely
> UK.  Apparently, nobody actually says those things anymore, and
> everyone assume it's the other folks who do? :)
You're right. They are British, definitely not American. Possessive auxiliary _have_
is standard British English, but is found in more conservative varieties, e.g.
in most of the north of Britain, and among older speakers in the South. IIRC
Mike is in his 40s and is from East Anglia, so I'm a little surprised at his
judgements.

>> 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.
>
> "I've got a cold", sure, but "do you have a pen" would be the norm for
> the second -
I didn't know that.

> in relaxed settings, even "do you got a pen",
That's distinctively American


--And.

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