"Why don't I be fair?" I heard that on TV (keep reading)...?

Question

I know it's grammatically wrong, because you should say "Why am I not fair?". So my question would be: What would be the implications of asking it this way? Is it just ignorance of the rules or was the speaker trying to imply something the grammatical question would not imply?

I find your answers very useful indeed, and I think you have really hit in the nail.

Here's the context (as I remember it). This was said by the character Bree van de Camp in DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. She is in a battle with her son, and she thinks at some point that she should play more fairly. Her character is not characterised as someone who doesn't know how to speak, so I'd think she really meant to put it as she put it. It makes sense she was actually not just wondering why she isn't fair. She was expressing her will to be so.

As some of you know here, I'm an English teacher from Argentina. So, I lack the background knowledge of the language that only living there could give me.

Once more, thank you for your help.

Answer 1

I'm not sure if this will get at what you're wanting, but...

To me it implies one of two things:
1. that the person is making a concerted effort to "be fair" or to do X, but they can't make themselves do that, for whatever reason. They, then, might ask themselves "why don't I do X??" in a way that kind of wonders why they simply don't have the discipline to do X, or to be fair. Like, "why don't I stop procrastinating?" which is a similar construction, but sounds better because the verb isn't "to be."
2. (and more probable--I think I've heard similar constructions in this situation) that the person saying this is trying to make a decision, and they're trying to choose between methods of deciding. If you're giving someone options about methods, you might phrase it like, "you can pick the best answer, you can choose the first one, or you can be fair." In response, the speaker might say, rhetorically, "Why don't I be fair?"

I'm going to update this later, because I think what I've written is confusing (at least, it is to me), and I want to clarify. Also, do you have the context? That phrasing might make sense in certain contexts; though out of context, it seems a little more difficult to tell you why that phrasing might have been chosen. As the others are saying, it might be building off of something that was said to this person--like mimicking the preceding statement for emphasis, or something like that.

Oh, and I don't think it was ignorance of the rules if it was a native speaker, because it would just sound funny to a native speaker.

OK, added later after I've had some time to think about it: I think the point of it, no matter the context, is that the speaker is calling attention to his or her actions, rather than his or her nature. Kind of like with "ser" and "estar" in Spanish, the speaker is not commenting about her or his general sense of fairness, but rather the manner in which s/he's acting at this moment--essentially, they're using "estoy" in this question rather than "soy". Because there's no real ser/estar distinction in English, "Why am I not fair?" is correctly used for both permanent and transitory states. It wouldn't be wrong to say "Why am I not fair?" if you were doing something you find unfair, though you may consider yourself always fair. However, "Why don't I be fair?" emphasizes that this is situation-specific. It also subtly emphasizes the idea that the speaker does not generally consider himself unfair. There's also some implied doubt within that question that conveys the idea that the speaker clearly believes that they should be fair in this situation.

Also, I think it's an important point that this is most likely a rhetorical question in any context. If the speaker were actually concerned about finding an answer to the question, s/he would probably use the correct version: "Why am I not fair?"

Answer 2

I suspect that the person was trying to capture a meaning that isn't captured in the grammatical version.

In my judgment,
"I am not fair." is talking about a person's character. It could mean that he/she treats people unjustly all the time.
"I am not being fair." is talking about a particular situation, where you are dealing with that situation unjustly. This use also gives me the reading that the unjustice is directed toward particular people, instead of a regular character trait.

Therefore, "Why don't I be fair?" seems like the kind of thing that a person would say when he/she is questioning how he/she is behaving unjustly in a particular situation.

Phew! That really taxes my semantic explainer! :)

I also like Cynthia's #2 explanation. It's hard to say which explanation works better without more context.

Answer 3

Maybe the speaker doesnt speak English well; and therefore ignorance of the rules OR aware of the grammatical rules but too much in the habit of saying things as he/she would in his own language. But you should put the situation that the question was asked in cause your right; it COULD be done on purpose with certain implications.

Answer 4

I think it's a useful ungrammatical addition to the language. Compare the logic here:

"Help other people!" = "Why don't you help other people?"
"Be a good person!" = "Why don't you be a better person?"

With 'you' anyway, it's still imperative in intention, so it follows the same pattern and uses the same grammar - wrong though that might be.

In this case: "Why aren't you a better person?" is about your present personality. "Why don't you be a better person?" is about your future personality. It's actually quite practical.

Your example, which is first person, probably revolves around something similar.

Answer 5

The only time I can think of where you would *possibly* say that would be in response to "Be fair!!" In other words, what you heard was probably not:

"Why don't I be fair?"

But rather:

"Why don't I 'be fair'?"

where the "be fair" was a direct quote.

Answer 6

coz itis a major source of knowledge