One of the things about England that I find both endearing in British people and infuriating when Americans (i.e., Stephan) copy it is the use of nonstandard grammar. Coming it an number one:
Adding a wholly unnecessary “do” to the end of a phrase featuring an auxiliary verb
“Do you ever bike to work?”
“I have done.”
“Mr. Obama, in just a few words, how would you best sum up the spirit of the American people?”
“Yes. We. Can. Do.”
Generally Stephan reserves this construction for use while conscious, the better to bask in my irritation, but the other night his subconscious saw fit to interrupt my sleep with this little gem of sleeptalking:
“[unintelligible]…[pause]…could do, could do…[laughter]…[unintelligible].”
Of course, for all I know, the additional “do” is correct and its omission is just pure American laziness, but I prefer to think of it as efficiency, i.e. the American Way.
