Re: OT: THEORY Fusion Grammar

On 7/17/06, Roger Mills <rfmilly@...> wrote:
(It is often mis-used, I know. I recall hearing a 10-yr old breathlessly
recount some event-- he began every sentence with "With that..."-- it struck
me he'd probably just learned the phrase and thought it classy.)


My favorite such example comes from a boy I knew -- maybe about 5 or 6 --
who systematically switched "because" and "that's why".  We had thought
something was totally wrong with his cause-and-effect reasoning before I
caught that it was just word choice.  So we'd hear gems like:

1. "Hey, look!  The [plush] polar bear is on top of the TV!"
"That's why I put it there."

2. "My daddy lives far away.  Because I don't get to see him that often."

3. "That's nice that your father is driving all that way just to see you."
"That's why he loves me!"

I think it was #1 that clued me in, because it doesn't make much sense as
stated.  #2 and #3, on the other hand, do make sense as stated, but a very
sad and strange kind of sense.

-- Pat