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So your link was for the special usage note to the last entry on the page that begins with "sometimes"? Furthermore I have never seen this idiom used when it is
by dfc 14y ago
So your link was for the special usage note to the last entry on the page that begins with "sometimes"? Furthermore I have never seen this idiom used when it is preceded by "can."
- NoPiece 14y agoFrom the OED: "speak for yourself: expressing a desire to dissociate oneself from what another has just said or the assumptions behind it."
- dfc 14y agoThat looks like a suprisingly terse entry from the oed. I do not think io have eveer seen such a short entry from the oed. How much did you edit and leave out? How many people put "can" in front of the idiom?
- NoPiece 14y agoIn the OED entry for the verb "speak," there is a sub entry for "to speak for." About half of that is devoted to "speak for yourself," which is what I quoted. It is followed by the typical list of examples. There was a Simpsons reincarnation joke that used the phrase: Sideshow Mel: You only live once! Apu: Hey, speak for yourself! http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons/Season_9#Miracle_on_Evergreen_Terrace http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons/Season_9#Miracle_o...
- dfc 14y agoHow many of the example entries are preceded by "can?"