Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 18:53:18 -0500

From: Ronald Butters amspeech[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ACPUB.DUKE.EDU

Subject: "I was all, '...'"



On Wed, 24 Jan 1996, Jesse T Sheidlower wrote:





BTW -- if anyone is interested, I have writings and data (a little) on

the still-new quotative "I'm all, '...'" as quoting gestures, tone of

voice, etc. as well as just words, going back to the early '80s when I

began tracking it.



I'd appreciate a few cites over the years, if they're handy. I

already had the ones you posted a while back. Do you have any

early examples of "like" as a quotative? Anyone else?



We published a note several years ago in AMERICAN SPEECH on quotative

"I'm all . . ." (maybe y'all already know about this?)