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I done...
Posted by Victoria S Dennis on June 11, 2007
In Reply to: I done... posted by Parthian on June 11, 2007
: : : : : 'I done' and 'I seen' and 'I have went'. These are all in common use in parts of central Scotland, especially Glasgow. I wonder if this is just 'bad English' or is there any evidence of a 'legitimate' origin?
: : : : Central Scotland, eh? Watch any American television show which is all or partly unscripted and you'll find this is still the language of hoi polloi. Legitimate? According to modern linguistic doctrine, anything uttered by anyone is "legitimate." But that's a snide answer to your legitimate qustion, to which I can't give a useful answer.
: : : : SS
: : : Especially, in the United States, witnesses to a crime who are being interviewed for TV news: "I done seen it."
: : Would you like to see "Gone with the Wind"? No, I done went and seen it already.
: :"I done/seen [it]" are ligit.dialectic[OED passim];"I have went" is just plain wrong.I have always thought "I done seen it" was a parody of bad English,even on USA programmes "I seen it" seems prevalent.
Possibly constructions like "I done went and seen it already" are dialect ways of adding emphasis? CF southern English "been and gone and", as in: Whatever have you been and gone and done now? (VSD)
