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I do, by the way, wish you well, but this is also the topic. One wishes one well. However, increasingly I see people offer "well wishes." This grates on my nerves. Aren't we talking adverbs vs. adjectives here? In which case, one offers "good wishes" but never "well wishes"... unless you hope someone gets a new well, I guess. I await your agreement and suggestions on how to get TV news anchors to stop it.
Wellllll.......
But seriously folks . . . Babs, I agree with you that it's an odd-sounding construction. The most recent citation I see for "well-wish" in the Oxford English Dictionary is in 1908, and the OED notes that this usage is "now rare."
Except on American TV, I guess! (Interesting that American newscasters also took to that Britishism "went missing" with such alacrity as well, no?)
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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