Conventional combinations in pockets of productivity ; Conventional combinations in pockets of productivity: English resultatives and Dutch ditransitives expressing excess

International audience ; Google hits for “sneezed the napkin off the table” run into the thousands. The sequence of words has become common good, to the extent that we see it quoted with a range of different subjects (Adele(!), Alex, Bob, Donna, Frank, Fred, Jack, Joan, Joe, John, Mary, Paul, Pat, Rachel, Sally, Sue, Tom, I, He, She, The baby…) and often without reference to Goldberg’s (1995) original sneeze example. The example is captivating to anyone who first hears or reads it, because in its simplicity it manages to capture the essence of the constructionist movement, in which argument st... Mehr ...