Date:    Tue, 9 Jun 1998 15:13:13 -0400
<br>From:    "Margaret G. Lee -English" <mlee[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CS.HAMPTONU.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: "You the man"
<br>
<br>It's interesting that the broader speech community has adopted "You da
<br>man."  Traditionally, AAVE expressions with obvious grammatical "errors"
<br>(such as the absent copula) are not accepted or imitated by
<br>mainstream speakers except in derision.  In some instances, they feel
<br>compelled to  "correct" it from "You da man" to "You're the man" or "You
<br>are the man."
<br>
<br>Margaret Lee
<br>Hampton University
<br>
<br>On Tue, 9 Jun3 1998, Gerald Cohen wrote:
<br>
<br>> Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 09:20:50 -0500
<br>> From: Gerald Cohen <gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU>
<br>> To: ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
<br>> Subject: Re: "You the man"
<br>>
<br>>    Avi Arditti, who inquired about "You the man!',  has sent me a helpful
<br>> follow-up note.  It indicates that this expression can be added to the list
<br>> of African-American contributions to the broader speech community, even if
<br>> the item is not yet standard English.
<br>> >
<br>> >The thankful car owner was a young white man, and I've heard other white
<br>> >people use it recently, so perhaps this century-old expression has finally
<br>> >hit mainstream!
<br>> >
<br>> --Gerald Cohen
<br>>
<br>>
<br>>
<br>>
<br>> gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu
<br>>
<br>