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Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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Does anyone here say "Don't lets..."?
Guest
1
2009/02/04 - 3:27pm
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Does anyone here ever say "Don't lets" do something or hear anyone use similar constructions?  The only two places that I've ever heard phrases like this are the They Might Be Giants Song "Don't Lets Start" and in the satirical WWII-era Noel Coward song "Don't Lets Be Beastly to the Germans."  Are there any regions in which one would be more likely to hear these constructions.

Martha Barnette
San Diego, CA
820 Posts
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2
2009/02/05 - 7:54pm
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Good question, EF. I don't know offhand, but wonder if it's so much geography as generational. (I mean, I realize TMBG members aren't yet collecting Social Security, but I wonder if they're using that construction self-consciously. Just a guess, though.)

Naturalized Texan
3
2009/02/08 - 12:37pm
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I seem to hear it in often Texas, among country folk.

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