Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 15:03:05 -0500 From: Mark Mandel Subject: "we be careful" This isn't news, but it's a data point. Such constructions as "we be" are often thought of as (substitute your preferred politically correct expression here), but this excerpt from a newsgroup (on the topic of the new Louisiana so-called "shoot-on-sight" anti-carjacking law) is a different breed of cat. For me, too, "be careful" has achieved status as a verb separate from "be" + Adj. "We don't get many carjackings here in Canada - or at least, the part that I live in. Also, we're not allowed to carry hidden weapons, so we just be careful I suppose. I lock the doors when I'm alone in the car, and generally keep an eye out when I'm driving in the big city. I've been lucky so far (knock on wood), and I know that the alarm has stopped would-be theives from taking my stereo out, etc. Mark A. Mandel : Senior Linguist : mark[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]dragonsys.com Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02160, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com/ Personal home page: http://world.std.com/~mam/