Date:    Tue, 9 Jun 1998 15:54:32 -0400
<br>From:    Larry Horn <laurence.horn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALE.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: "You the man"
<br>
<br>At 3:36 PM -0400 6/9/98, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
<br>>Dave Letterman uses the phrase frequently, usually in a running exchange
<br>>with Paul Shaffer.  I'm never quite sure whether they're using it
<br>>derisively or mockingly or not....
<br>>
<br>>
<br>>At 03:13 PM 6/9/98 -0400, you wrote:
<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>
<br>I don't detect any derision here, but something more like quotation or
<br>ironic reference to the non-standard dialect, much as there is in the use
<br>of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" or "It ain't over till the fat lady
<br>sings" by speakers who don't normally have 'ain't' in their lexical
<br>repertoire.  I'm not sure that there's a whole lot of evidence for the
<br>claim that 'AAVE expressions with obvious grammatical "errors" (such as the
<br>absent copula) are not accepted or imitated by mainstream speakers except
<br>in derision.'  In fact, the item I was just alluding in relation to
<br>"Youdaman", "my bad", is another example of dialect borrowing of the same
<br>sort; again there's no derision or correction.  If anything, given the
<br>makeup of the borrowing community (hip or hip-wannabe radio and TV
<br>comedian-hosts, sportscasters, etc.) there may be a case to be made for
<br>Trudgill-style covert prestige.
<br>
<br>larry
<br>