So Don’t I

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, Greg Smith. How are you doing?

Hi, Greg. I’m doing well.

Welcome to the show. Where are you calling from?

Springfield, Vermont.

Okay, cool.

Well, I’m wondering about the expression, so don’t I. I’ve heard it since I’ve lived in Vermont, which is about 30 years, and it’s when someone is replying to something, they actually agree with it, so it’s like, it’s almost like saying, so do I. But they say, so don’t I instead. And I got to tell you that after talking to someone from Montana, it sounds like it’s used out there, too, in maybe some rural areas.

Really?

Yeah.

So you’ve been there 30 years, but you’re not 30 years old, so you’re probably from somewhere else.

I certainly am. That’s correct.

Where are you from?

I’m actually from southwestern Connecticut.

And in Connecticut, I’m gathering that they don’t say this.

They don’t.

This is like Fairfield County or something.

That’s correct.

Okay.

And so what’s confusing to you, Greg, is that the don’t sounds like a negative, and it sounds like I’m saying I don’t like ice cream.

Exactly.

Right. It’s almost counterintuitive. It’s a really interesting, lovely thing here. There’s a great book by a linguist named Larry Horn, very wonky. You should buy it if you’re very wonky.

I’ll wait for the movie.

He says that so don’t I is so known as a regional language feature in parts of New England and throughout New England that it’s risen to the level of an overt stereotype. And what he means by this is the locals are so conscious of the fact that they do this that it’s one of the first things that they talk about when they try to describe what it’s like to be a local or what it’s like to be where they’re from.

So it’s very well known within that particular region and barely known outside the region because it just sounds wrong to outsiders, doesn’t it?

It certainly does.

Now, that’s why I’m wondering why that person heard it in Montana, unless there was a transplant from New England.

That happens.

There are pockets. There’s a couple things happening here. There are little pockets of this being reported around the country, but it’s far more common in New England. As you might guess, because this is a New England feature, it does have roots in English spoken in the United Kingdom and goes back centuries.

I won’t get into the rich details of it, but it’s mostly known among linguists. It’s a strange dialect feature where it looks like a negative to outsiders, but it’s 100% perceived as a positive to insiders.

Wow.

And what’s almost always happening here is that when I say, so don’t I, I think that you somehow suggested a negative or that my response, you somehow suggested that my response will be no. And so by saying, so don’t I, I’m actually negating your negativity to create a positive.

What?

And that is a really bad explanation of something that’s very complicated. But that’s, you won’t go wrong if you just accept that.

Okay.

In other words, all the linguists, I’m sorry, but everyone else, that’s the best that I can do. We’re going to link to Larry Horn’s book. We’re going to link to some articles about this. We’re going to get to the bottom of so don’t I so that outsiders, people who aren’t from New England, can get kind of a taste of what’s happening there because it’s a remarkable thing.

It’s got history. It’s got local pride in it. It’s got linguistics and semantics and everything. It’s all in there. It’s wonderful in this very short phrase.

Well, that’s a great thing. If anything else comes your way that you think we should hear about, you’ve got to call us, all right?

I shall.

Thank you very much.

All right.

Take care.

Thanks, Greg.

Bye-bye.

You too.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

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