Why Can You Have a Drink When You Can't *Have an Eat?

I was pondering over the expansion of use for frames like "have a..." after skimming this article. I'll have to read it more thoroughly. But, for now, I'm going to speculate (watch out). While I'm at it, I might as well explain what my speculations are like. I like to think through things as best I can on my own. Especially as below. But, sometimes, my logic ends up flawed or missing something. That's the whole point of my speculation really- to catch the flaws and missing information. If you see it, don't get all ruffled, just say so.

So, we (people in general perhaps) use words/frames/phrases for both wider and narrower meanings than our parents. The big example you hear talked/argued about is "like", and I don't want to get into that now. So, we use "like" to mean more than something  meaning "I like you," of course. We say things like ( <-- that) and:
1    It took him, like, an hour to get here.
     (It took him, maybe- more- or- less- I- might- be- exaggerating- not- exactly- accurate- I'm- thinking, an hour to get here.)

2    The squirrel is like a fox.
     (The squirrel is as a fox is.)

3    Like, I did want to go.
     (Well/something-prevented-me/uncertainty, I did want to go.)

4    I was like, oh-my-god.
     (My reaction was to think/feel/maybe-but-probably-not-say oh-my-god.)

Ok, so these first few are the "controversial" ones. I might post about it some other time, but not now. Basically, I don't know why it's such a problem for some people. More examples of different use:

5    I like him.
     (I like him.)

6    I like him.
     (I like him, 'like that'.)
     (I like him and am interested in a relationship)

7    I like him (with grimace/downturned mouth/scrunched up nose).
     (I like him because I have to/feel bad if I don't/etc.)

These last ones (5-7) exhibit both more specific meaning and a broadening of the original meaning of "to regard something/someone/etc. as positive/enjoyable/..." Specifically, there are different degrees and aspects of "like." Depending on the emphasis, it can be a platonic (5) or romantic (6) attraction, or a pity/regretful attraction (7). There are others as well. Now, this is all pretty intuitive.

The more interesting thought comes from reading Anna Wierzbicka's article. I've read things like it before, but it just got me to thinking. So, I might say things like (gah, now I really notice that stupid word,) "Have an eat." I might say it tongue-in-cheek, but I say it. I like to play with words and grammar, so it's hard to tell if someone else might do the same thing normally. So, one day, if I have kids or if it becomes more commonplace, I, my kids or others might say it all the time without meaning it in a silly way.

I'm curious if expansion of grammatical structure often happens this way. She does often say that something might be said in jest, but I'll have to read closer to see if any of the accepted constructions did not used to be accepted.

Finally, one more thought:
On 775, she says:
"One can say 51a, but hardly 51b:
     (51) a. John was drinking water.
           b. ?John was eating food.
The expression eat food is tautological, because the idea of food is already contained in the meaning of eat... The verb eat requires an object other than food..."

I'm going to cite this next time I ask my sarcastic husband what he's eating, and he says "food."

posted by Sarah @ 10:54 AM