novaBBS - alt.english.usage - Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in [Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."

unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in [Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."

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Subject: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in
[Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."
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by: henh...@gmail.com - Sun, 21 Aug 2022 18:57 UTC

Are there unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases that you remember from [Downton Abbey] ?

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/467097/confused-by-a-phrase-i-heard-in-downton-abbey

"Don't let's make too much of it." --------- [Don't let's] means [let us not], while [do not let us] means [do not allow us] to. And the intermediate contraction [don't let us] can mean either one.

https://old.reddit.com/r/DowntonAbbey/comments/fo9gp6/i_just_saw_s5e6_and_what_does_would_you_prefer/

"Would you prefer we were alone ?" <--- i think this is still common today.

------ (i'm esp. interested in Season 5, because i'm watching it now)

Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in [Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."

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From: anton....@g{oogle}mail.com (Anton Shepelev)
Newsgroups: alt.english.usage
Subject: Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in
[Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."
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by: Anton Shepelev - Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:15 UTC

henh:

> Are there unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax,
> provers) or phrases that you remember from [Downton
> Abbey] ?

None, I watched some of it ad-free on Russian state
TV, with dubbing.

> https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/467097/confused-by-a-phrase-i-heard-in-downton-abbey
> "Don't let's make too much of it." [Don't let's]
> means [let us not], while [do not let us] means [do
> not allow us] to. And the intermediate contraction
> [don't let us] can mean either one.

The proper meaning of "don't let's" is that of a re-
quest for proscription. The interpreting it as "let
us not" is probably colloquial, because counterlogi-
cal. An unbiased reader will certainly misunderstand
it.

> "Would you prefer we were alone ?"
> <--- i think this is still common today.

Of course. Back then they used "should", cf. Sherlock
Holmes:

-- Shall I tell your groom to ride for Dr. Horton?
-- I should prefer that you should continue the case.

--
() ascii ribbon campaign - against html e-mail
/\ http://preview.tinyurl.com/qcy6mjc [archived]

Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in [Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."

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From: hayes...@telkomsa.net (Steve Hayes)
Newsgroups: alt.english.usage
Subject: Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in [Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2022 04:51:08 +0200
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by: Steve Hayes - Thu, 25 Aug 2022 02:51 UTC

On Sun, 21 Aug 2022 11:57:25 -0700 (PDT), "henh...@gmail.com"
<henhanna@gmail.com> wrote:

>"Don't let's make too much of it."

I don't think there's ans anything outdated about that. It's
idiomatic.

A slightly more formal way of expressing it would be:

"Let's not make too much of it."

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Happiness isn't having what you want, it's wanting what you have.

interests / alt.english.usage / Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in [Downton Abbey] ? ----- "Don't let's make too much of it."

Subject	Author
unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in	henh...@gmail.com
Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in	Anton Shepelev
Re: unusual (or outdated) grammar (syntax, provers) or phrases in [Downton Abbe	Steve Hayes