I'm gonna get me/myself a...

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Hi,I just read a post that reminded me of a weird thing I've never known.I'm a get myself some fries... Wait here...I'm a get me some fries... Wait here......and similar sentences (with "buy", for example). Could someone tell me more about that? I have no idea when and where both forms are possible, if they are possible at all.Thanks.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

When? Just after you've hopped out of yore pick-em-up truck, afore you hitch up yore overalls and take that hayseed out of your mouth.

More properly: I'm a gonna get me some fries.

Kooyeen · Answer

LOL! Barb, where you referring to "I'm a"? That was just an example, since I saw it that way. My question was actually about the choice between "me" and "myself".

I saw you picked "me". Then it's not true that everytime the action affects the subject itself we need to use reflexive pronouns. So I don't understand why you can't say "I'm going to kill me" but you can say "I'm gonna get me some fries"...

Thanks

Delmobile · Answer

Oh, Barbara. Are you quoting a popular song, perhaps? Why would you want to mislead our poor learners in this way?

All the "i'm-a" business aside, there's nothing wrong with, "I"m going to buy myself some fries." It's grammatically correct and makes abundantly clear not only who is paying for the fries, but who is going to be eating them.

I'm going to buy me some fries, or
He's going to get him a new car, etc

however often we may hear them, are not correct. But I don't know where this comes from. I would guess some kind of crossover from a Latin language, maybe, but that's cause I grew up in south Louisiana hearing people say things like, "Me, cher, I think that's too much to pay." Perhaps a knowledgeable linguist will weigh in.

Kooyeen · Answer

Hey Del,
it was you who reminded me of this! I read your post in the thread "I'mma", where you wrote "I'm a buy me a new coat" as an example. I started to think about "I'm a buy myself a new coat"... So I decided to open this thread, to know more about those sentences, with a normal pronoun

or a reflexive one (myself).

So you think both versions are actually used and natural in American English?

BarbaraPA · Answer

K, in any kind of writing (except dialogue) or careful speaking, you buy youself a new pair of shoes, you get yourself something to eat, etc.

I can't wait to get me a new HDTV is decidedly nonstandard, despite its frequency. However, I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a novel as a bit of conversation.

Philip · Answer

Reflexive, definitely.

Delmobile · Answer

Oh, I knew you must have seen it on the "ima" thread, Kooyeen. That's why I felt duty bound to respond here.

Yes, both versions are used in AE, but as Barbara pointed out, it's not standard by any stretch. I would go so far as to say that well-educated people only use this construction ironically.

"Wow, those are fabulous shoes. Are they new?"
"Yes, I bought them Saturday at Parisian's. They're having a big sale. These were half-price."
"I really like them a lot. I haven't bought any new shoes since last spring."
"Well then, you just go on over to Parisian's and get you a pair!"

Something like that.

Kooyeen · Answer

I see, thank you. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Clive · Answer

Hi,

But I don't know where this comes from. I would guess some kind of crossover from a Latin language, maybe, but that's cause I grew up in south Louisiana hearing people say things like, "Me, cher, I think that's too much to pay."

French, I suppose. 'Moi, je pense que . . . '

You may already be aware that the French/Cajun influence in Louisiana stems from the influx of French settlers who were expelled from Acadia by the perfidious British, who renamed the place as Nova Scotia. The word 'cajun' is a corrupted form of 'Acadian'.

( This expulsion forms the background of the famous poem 'Evangeline' by Longfellow. We once drove around Nova Scotia reciting this in the car, to create a bit of historical atmosphere for our trip.)

I'm sure there's a lot of stuff about this on the net.

Best wishes, Clive

Delmobile · Answer

"You may already be aware that the French/Cajun influence in Louisiana stems from the influx of French settlers who were expelled from Acadia by the perfidious British..."

My ***, yes. I married one. A Cajun, that is. Not a perfidious Brit.

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