A teacher in Oakley, Vermont, noted a curious construction among his students while teaching in Maine. They would say things like “We’re all going to the party, and so isn’t he” or “I like to play basketball, and so doesn’t he.” Primarily heard in eastern New England, this locution has a kind of internal logic, explained in more detail at one of our favorite resources, The Yale Grammatical Diversity Project. This is part of a complete episode.
Electrifying! - a Special Minicast from Martha 12/12/2019: Hey, podcast listener! Martha here with a special minicast of A Way with Words. Today I want to tell you a story — and make... [more]
Bug in Your Ear (episode #1537) 12/09/2019: Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, not... [more]
The Black Dog (episode #1536) 11/25/2019: Books were rare treasures in the Middle Ages, painstakingly copied out by hand. So how to protect them from theft? Scribes sometimes added a curse... [more]
Beside Myself (episode #1535) 11/04/2019: The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes... [more]
Skookum (episode #1534) 10/21/2019: So you've long dreamed of writing fiction, but don't know where to begin? There are lots of ways to get started — creative writing classes,... [more]
You must log in to post a comment.