Hi, Paul!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 AH>  Q.  Who was that lady I saw you with last night?
 AH>  A.  That was no lady, that was my wife.
             -- a joke I heard from my father, when I was a
             kid and "lady" was not synonymous with "woman"

 PQ>  Same with me.  In support of my point I'm thinking that
 PQ>  that was from Groucho Marx film.


           Groucho Marx may well have used it, but the earliest known reference
 to a variation on the theme dates back to the late nineteenth century & at
this point it's difficult to be sure who said it first.  Some folks theorize
that it originated in the English music halls.  If the idea was widely adopted
in other English-speaking countries, though, the history is even more
uncertain....  :-)



 AH>  WRT connotation, Anton summarized neatly what I had in
 AH>  mind there: the "no" version comes aross as stronger &
 AH>  more emotional to me as well.

 PQ>  Not for me.  But language is very much a personal
 PQ>  interpretation and expression of worldly things.


           Connotations may be general, personal, or both.  I probably wouldn't
 have thought about that aspect if Anton hadn't mentioned it... but when he
did, I realized he'd put into words what was in the back of my mind.  It seems
to me you were getting +/- the same impression, then began to doubt
yourself....  :-)



 AH>  If the "no" version rubs you the wrong way, I think
 AH>  that's because you see some exaggeration... as I do
 AH>  in what I quoted above.

 PQ>  No, I simply see it as an error in personal choice.


           Okay... let me rephrase that.  The "no" version sounds more emphatic
 because it's shorter, for one thing.  Usually there is no need to add
emphasis. But in situations where somebody is saying, in effect, "Don't put me
[or person xxx] in this or that pigeonhole" they may use it consciously or
subconsciously.

           WRT the example Alexander cited I see a further complication in that
 we don't know exactly what these people said.  Songwriters, comedians, and
news reporters often have a vested interest in arousing the audience's
emotions.  If you know what they're up to, you can decide to go along with it
or not....  ;-)



 PQ>  When it comes time to pull such a 'standard' response
 PQ>  I would opt for "not a".


           The "not a" version is much more common, and I'd recommend it as the
 first choice in the vast majority of situations.  The "no" version is so
rarely used that it took me a couple of days to think of five examples....  :-)



 AH>  In the last two examples I cited, a person who knows
 AH>  the accused quite well is challenging the accuser(s)
 AH>  to look more closely at the situation & draw conclusions
 AH>  on an individual basis.  :-)

 PQ>  My oh my.  I knew you would have fun with this thought
 PQ>  teaser of Alexander's.  


           Yes, I did.  Alexander asks good questions.  But IMHO the input from
 other readers is important too.  I can have fun playing with the grammar all
by myself, but I do my best work when folks like you add their own ideas.... 
:-))




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)