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Re: CHAT: "*** you" (was Re: closet conlanging)

From:Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
Date:Thursday, December 24, 1998, 13:17
Eric Christopherson wrote:

> I've often wondered, what is the story with the phrases "bugger you" > and the more common American "f*ck you" (If you don't know it, you'll > have to guess the vowel ;) ). They don't seem grammatically correct as > commands; then they would have "yourself" rather than "you." Or was > there originally another word, such as "I" at the beginning? If I > interpreted your Hatas-oa phrase correctly, it is "I bugger you." > Anyone have any ideas?
Actually, not every English dialect has always used a reflexive of the form [pronoun]+self. To use an example which ironically is the first one to come to mind, one of the traditional children's prayers goes like this: Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take. Very un-PC, would probably never get into any modern book. ;-| It could, of course, be due to the poetic format, but I have certainly heard dialects which use reflexives like that. So, anyways, "f*ck you" has certainly at one time or another been grammatical. It's just idiomat= ic now, that's all, after the Standard moved in and took over. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Tom Wier <twier@...> ICQ#: 4315704 AIM: Deuterotom Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/> "Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero." "S=F4=F0 is gecy=FEed / =FE=E6t mihtig God manna cynes / w=EAold w=EEde-ferh=F0." _Beowulf_, ll. 700-702 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D