While sitting at lunch today, I heard someone say: "Better watch out or they'll run you under!!" Of course, I thought..."what kinda backhills hillbilly says 'run you UNDER.' "? I've always said run you over. But then again, run you over doesn't make any sense either.
Well, I quickly surmissed the correct version should be 'run over you', but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Why would you say run you under/run you over at all?
First, neither one makes a bit of sense. If I (being me) am going to run you (being you) over, that would entail me running (which in itself is a joke) and while running, I would have to travel with you (being you) I guess laying down so that I can continue to run all the while, being overtop of you. NOTE: The sentence never says "I going to knock you down and run you over", it simply says run you over.
Now, on the contrary, run you under (besides the obvious fact that 'you' is in the wrong place in both sentences, thus making it a past-particip-a-lee, dangling modificator...(okay, I don't know what that means)...is wrong because it would entail that I (being me) am going to run you (being you) under. Under what? Under my feet? Then wouldn't I be over you, thus having run you over?
But, if I am going to run over you, I would think you were laying on the ground in the first place, which would defeat the whole purpose of saying 'run over you' because nobody says "better stand up or I am going to run over you," they say..."get out of the way or I'll run over you."
Ok, that's enough of that. Let's just say "I'll mow you down," shall we?
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