Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 08:21:15 -0600

From: Tom Head tlh[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]NETDOOR.COM

Subject: Re: "so do me something" - Reply to Beth Simon's Inquiry



On Wed, 5 Nov 1997, MELISSA S. SMITH wrote:



Since we are talking about unusual sayings, I'd like someone to tell me

the origin of "What can I do ya for?" I've heard this a lot lately and

it gets on my nerves. It has a rude undertone that I don't like. Where

did this come from?



I think it's a corruption of "What can I do for ya?", an informal business

greeting.



Tom Head

tlh[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]netdoor.com

http://www2.netdoor.com/~tlh



"The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible.

What the second duty is, no one has yet discovered."

-- Oscar Wilde