9

Is anybody aware of published analysis of this interesting construction, which seems to require what I will loosely term swear words to work? I believe I've only heard it in British English:

A1 - Dave got a job at Roche.
B1 - Fuck off did he! (=No he didn't; I don't believe you)

A2 - Whales are fish, you know.
B2 - Bollocks are they. (=No they aren't)

Improve this question
14
  • 1
    This is a language-specific question that may find better answers at dedicated sites: English.SE or English Learners.SE
    – Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
    Sep 15, 2013 at 11:21
  • 3
    The fact that you find the examples surprising is indicative of the interest of the construction, I would say. If you do a quick search for "bollocks is he", you'll see plenty of examples (e.g. "Bollocks did he throw a way an envelope with £2k inside. That's a big envelope and a big coincidence for the first time you've ever taken cash"- you'll have to disregard about half of the results - relevant ones are obvious.) And I disagree with the heavy-handed 'on hold' designation; this is precisely the type of quirky data that drove much work in generative syntax in the sixties and early seventies.
    – Luke Bradley
    Sep 15, 2013 at 14:37
  • 5
    I agree with @LukeBradley - Mods are being unnecessarily heavy-handed here. This clearly isn't a question about whether or not a given construction is correct (which would make this a question about usage), but rather a question about how to give a syntactic analysis of a particular construction, which places it squarely in the remit of linguistics SE. The questioner could've done a better job at explaining why these constructions are surprising from the perspective of English syntax, but otherwise i think the question should be re-opened.
    – P Elliott
    Sep 16, 2013 at 12:20
  • 2
    @acattle I don't think you could interpret the quotes that way if you heard them spoken. Their prosody would be similar to the American equivalent, "Like hell he did". I agree with others above that the question is definitely on-topic as is (it is not a prescriptive grammar or usage question; it's a syntax question and the data just happen to come from a single language) and should be re-opened, but maybe the OP should include a mention of this American English equivalent and note the word order difference as a point of interest.
    – musicallinguist
    Sep 16, 2013 at 14:56
  • 4
    @GastonÜmlaut Transcribed data doesn't hurt, but it's not standard in syntax papers, and probably not necessary here. As a native speaker, I can tell you that the examples sentences don't carry interrogative force. If a non-native speaker of BrE can't interpret them this way, so what? Just to expand the dataset a little, i accept these permutations: (i) Bollocks did he! (ii) Bollocks he did! (iii) Did he bollocks! ...BUT... (iv) *he did bollocks! The interesting thing here is that fronting of the expletive triggers inversion, just like, e.g. a wh-word, but it is optional.
    – P Elliott
    Sep 17, 2013 at 9:10

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
12

This kind of construction occurs in multiple languages (e.g. Irish, Cantonese, Modern Greek); it is called Devil Negation, or Rude Negators. Comments above expressed confusion about the examples from OP; in American English, the usual form is like hell he did or the hell she did.

What is distinctive about it is that the negation is not expressed overtly; it is implied by the presence of an expression of anger or exasperation, as a reaction to the clausal content. Doing some googles,

Improve this answer
0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.