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Re^2: Theory vs. Reality
by Limbic~Region (Chancellor) on Feb 07, 2007 at 23:16 UTC
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ysth,
Nit: the common phrase is "please me no end"...
Did you intend to use the word common or did you mean to imply "more accurate"? I ask because I have always heard it please me to no end as well. I asked Google Fight which agreed. So while your correction is more accurate, I am not sure it is more common.
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I meant common; I'd never heard "to no end".
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ysth,
It might be a regional thing (I am from Maine). A mistake ends up becoming more prevalent. A while back at work, "fat finger" began to mean "data entry" rather than a typo due to a PHB misunderstanding but using the phrase quite often.
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Re^2: Theory vs. Reality
by ikegami (Patriarch) on Feb 08, 2007 at 00:47 UTC
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I've never heard "please me no end", and I have no idea how to please a "me no end". I never heard of a verb that accepts two transitive clauses, and I can't think of any right now.
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I've used "please me no end" as a phrase since childhood. And it's certainly not a new usage, as I clearly remember both my Father and Grandmother using it as a part of every day speech.
Like ysth, I never heard the "please me to no end" variation.
I guess that's the thing about natural languages. They evolved, and continue to evolve, on the basis of common usage. The codification of the "rules of grammar", came after the fact. Hence the irregularities that burst the bubble of rule-bound.
I clearly remember an english lesson in which I was taught that you "take things there; and bring them back", but again just this evening in a US movie I heard an apparently well educated character say: "Will you bring him with us"?
This sounds entirely wrong to my ears, but it, and many other "grammar errors", crop up in US movies and books often enough that I can only assume that they are fairly normal speech patterns in the US. Whether they would be acceptable (to whom?), in written english is another matter entirely.
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
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It is actually a mispeling of "'it wood pleas Smee too know 'enned", from the pirate legend, of course. My research did turn up some cases of the "too" being dropped but I think we can all agree that such a phrase doesn't really make any sense in the context of the legend.
I think I'll switch to "it would please me long time" to avoid confusion / controversy.
Before doing the research that turned up the pirate legend origin, I too thought "I've never heard 'it would please me no end'" but thinking on it more I realized that I had heard that version just not much recently.
And I really think the reason for the shift is a combination of "it would please me no end" having an awkward feel when you try to parse it grammatically (as you noted) and people finding "to no end" familiar (even though with a different meaning, especially since that other meaning is rather idiomatic anyway). So it can be more comfortable to say "it would please me to no end" when you aren't thinking about it, which is usually the case when someone utters a pat phrase. Just like it is easier to say "I could care less", avoiding that awkward "nt" sound that interrupts the flow of the phrase.
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Re^2: Theory vs. Reality
by eric256 (Parson) on Feb 07, 2007 at 23:51 UTC
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Commonly I think it is actually "please me to no end" (at least in the western US :) ) with the concept being "I'll be pleased and it will never end" instead of the probably more correct "please me for no reason" interpretation you are taking. Either way its like most sayings, people know what they are suppose to mean even if the saying doesn't literally mean the right thing. Oddly "please me no end" sounds like broken English, on par with "i love you long time" (say it in an Asian accent and hopefully the humor comes across, or maybe thats just our distorted offices since of humor.
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Did you mean "office's" or "orifices"?
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