Classified Ad

[wheelerwoolsey.livejournal.com]

New Orleans Times-Picayune, July 31, 1949:

Comments

[planet-x-zero.livejournal.com]

HAVE YOU GRAMMAR?

[laurel-hardy.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't think this phrasing is incorrect as much as it's a style that's gone out of style.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

It is perfectly correct. It's just not standard US usage. A bit old-fashioned, but perfectly acceptable on the east side of the Atlantic a couple of generations back.

[planet-x-zero.livejournal.com]

Disagree. It might be colloquial but it is not correct.

[laurel-hardy.livejournal.com]

No, the 'got' in "Have you got…" is superfluous. "Have you brains" is a complete question with a subject, an object, and a verb.

[write-light.livejournal.com]

Have you any milk? Have you wealth enough to fund such an expedition? It's not so much colloquial as regional (more typical of British English where American prefers "Do you have any...?") and not common usage now. It parallels the structure of (among others) German questions "Hast du Zeit?" when translated directly.

[luke-russell.livejournal.com]

Totally correct. Like "are you heavy". Reversing subject and verb is a standard way to create a question. We all do it everyday.

[planet-x-zero.livejournal.com]

"Are you heavy?" is correct. "Have you heavy?" is wrong. So is this. Not only is it wrong, it is from an American newspaper circa 1950.

[write-light.livejournal.com]

"Have you heavy?" is wrong because it uses an adjective (heavy) in place of the two other forms that are correct - a verb in past participle form (Have you begun?) or a noun direct object (Have you the time?), which as I wrote above, is an accepted (if antiquated in the US) variant on "Do you have NOUN?"

ETA: To which I should append, the "Have you (got) brains?" is a very clear and common ellipsis.

[luke-russell.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Have you bananas? Were you heavy? Are they small? Have you a receipt? Perfectly proper English sentence structure

[teamrodent.livejournal.com]

Huh, even zombies put ads in the papers. MEEP!

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

I had exactly this thought.

[memnet.livejournal.com]

That's the first thing that came to my mind. ;P

[franklanguage.livejournal.com]

Ditto.

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

Braiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnsss

[fallconsmate.livejournal.com]

vegan zombie... graiiiiiins.

[mackinzie.livejournal.com]

Either that or one of Hannibal Lecter's relatives.

[progbear.livejournal.com]

Translation: my previous attempt at hiring based on looks didn’t work out so well, so I need a brainy girl to fix the mess she left.

[beetle-breath.livejournal.com]

"Ulla, go to work!"

[kshandra]

Tidy oop?

[laurel-hardy.livejournal.com]

I find the honesty refreshing.

[etinterrapax.livejournal.com]

If perhaps I brought them in a bag with me...? Would that do?

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Why, exactly, would a young typist want a job with Zombi et Cie? (This is, after all, in N'Awlins.)

[misstia]

So, there were 'girls' without brains then??? What if she was engaged??? What if you had no brains yet could still type better than someone with brains?? Why do I want to go back in time and call this number and mess with this yahoo??

[luke-russell.livejournal.com]

Yes, I believe brainless girls were quite common back then. Movies from that era (Solid Gold Cadillac, various Marilyn Monroe movies, etc) all prove that point!

[franklanguage.livejournal.com]

All I can think is…MUST…HAVE…BRAINS.

[luke-russell.livejournal.com]

I just LOVE how grammar issues brings out ALL the commentary!!