Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006

I learned it as "Let's not and say we did", but I see a 1945 obituary
for a Philip L. Ponce, a songwriter, among whose listed songs was
"Let's Don't and Say We Did".  Ponce was 59 and had retired five years
previously.  Ah.  The song appears to have been recorded in 1929.

} R J Valentine wrote:
}
}> The thing is that "let's" doesn't really mean "let us" anymore, despite
}> the protestations of the teachers of English and other decontractionists.
}> It has been cut loose and floats free on its own and means more like
}> "please" (whatever that means, which is no longer "if you please" or "if
}> your councillorship pleases" or whatever it used to mean).  You put it
}> where you'd put "please", and it sounds a little strange where "please"
}> would sound a little strange and sounds a little British where "please"
}> would sound a little British (but I repeat myself).  It might be better if
}> it were spelled [= BrE "spelt"] "letz".
}>
}> "Let's" is the new "please".
}
} Well, let's see.
}
} "Let us", which remains the root form--no matter the protestations of
} contractionists (whatever those might be), as evidenced by the simple
} fact that you can in any context write the uncontracted form without
} risking any heads suddenly snapping up when readers encounter it--is
} clearly in the imperative mood, as would be "Give us our daily bread"
} or "Shut the door".
}
} The imperative mood is classically described as signifying "command,
} request, admonition, supplication, entreaty, warning, prohibition".  So
} the phrase "Let's" would necessarily signify one of those things,
} merely owing to its grammatical form.  So if one says "Let's go", the
} thought of going is being set out as a command, request, admonition,
} supplication, entreaty, warning, or prohibition.  We can, even without
} context, strike a few of those senses (admonition, warning,
} prohibition), and some of the rest can be combined as mere shadings of
} sense of the same concept (request, supplication, entreaty); we are
} thus left with the understanding that "Let's go" must--merely by its
} form--signify a proposed action that is either a command or a request,
} and we need to extract which from the context (though it is an unlikely
} form for a command).
}
} None of that requires or implies that "let us" (or "let's") is itself a
} substitute for the conventional politeness that "please" expresses when
} making a suggestion (or even when giving a command, as when a
} supervisor tells a clerk to "please file these").  If a Sargeant who
} has just explained to his troop of rookies that they are about to
} undertake a five-mile run then shouts "Let's go!" it is unlikely that
} any reasonable person will understand that as equating to "Please go!"

I'm not sure if all that is just WordE for let's's being an English
version of a jussive subjunctive, but it smacks of not being aware of what
"please" means anymore.  ObTip: Next time you hear "Please step out of the
car," you might give it serious consideration.

Plus which, after I got out of basic, there were precious few times that
anyone wanted me to do something while I was in the Army that they weren't
real polite about it.  Other people may have had different experiences,
but I'll bet they said "please" to Skitt a lot, too.