Date:  Fri, 28 Nov 1997 16:32:57 -0500
From:  Kendra Banks Perry <banks[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ANDREWS.EDU>
Subject: of(t)en and "is all"

Just a couple of quirky queries about things I've noticed recently.

My mother occasionally uses a construction that seems very bizarre to
me: "Is all we ever do is fight" or "Is all he ever does is pick on me."
She uses these as independent sentences. This seems to me to be
different from the double "is" that we discussed a while ago. My mother
is a native of Wisconsin, but has also lived in Pennsylvania and Michigan
for significant parts of her life. Anybody else familiar with this
construction?

Also, did anybody out there grow up pronouncing the "t" in often? I've
only ever heard it done in poetry. Is the t-lessness an Americanism, or
a regionalism?

Kendra Banks Perry

banks[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]andrews.edu
http://www.andrews.edu/~banks