Date: Fri, 28 Nov 1997 16:32:57 -0500

From: Kendra Banks Perry banks[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ANDREWS.EDU

Subject: of(t)en and "is all"



Just a couple of quirky queries about things I've noticed recently.



My mother occasionally uses a construction that seems very bizarre to

me: "Is all we ever do is fight" or "Is all he ever does is pick on me."

She uses these as independent sentences. This seems to me to be

different from the double "is" that we discussed a while ago. My mother

is a native of Wisconsin, but has also lived in Pennsylvania and Michigan

for significant parts of her life. Anybody else familiar with this

construction?



Also, did anybody out there grow up pronouncing the "t" in often? I've

only ever heard it done in poetry. Is the t-lessness an Americanism, or

a regionalism?



Kendra Banks Perry



banks[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]andrews.edu

http://www.andrews.edu/~banks