7.2 The “That Said” Construction 2037.2.3.5 Switch from This to That. The switch from the proximal to the
distal demonstrative in the that/ this said construction is diffi cult to determine.
In EEBO (i.e., to the end of the seventeenth century), this is the dominant form.
Google Ngrams ( https:// books.google.com/ ngrams ) shows that as the majority
form already by 1800. COHA evidence for the early period is scanty, as is evi-
dence provided by CLMET3.0, where in the period 1710– 1780, there are eight
examples of this and none of that , in the period 1780– 1850, there are two of
this , none of that , and in the period 1850– 1920, there are two of this and four
of that. (On possible reasons for the shift from this to that , see Section 7.2.5 .)
7.2.4 History of Having Said That/ This
How does the active construction fi t into this picture?
In temporal/ sequential uses, the active construction dates from the seven-
teenth century:
(12) a. For who knowes not (quoth she) that this Hawke which comes now so faire
to the fi st, may to morrow check at the Lure. Having said this , shee wrote
as hereafter followeth. (1606 Hind, Eliosto Libidinoso [EEBO])
b. Having said this , she left her Neece behind her, and went and opened a
Gallery door, (1653 Pinto, The voyages and adventures of Fernand Mendez
Pinto, a Portugal [EEBO])
c. Having said that, they set their Hands on their Knees, and in that stoop-
ing posture they say the Prayer Subhanna Rebbi, (1669 Olearius, The voy-
ages and travels of the ambassadors sent by Frederick, Duke of Holstein
[EEBO])
d. The Author having said that , That which we commonly call the Apostles
Creed, is, and was so received by the Primitive Church, (1676 Marvell, Mr.
Smirke [EEBO])
That is, it is roughly contemporaneous with the passive that/ this said , and
again in early texts (see EEBO), it typically appears in translations. It may
thus be seen as an alternative – but less common – calque for Latin hic dictis.
Similarly, this is more common than that in the beginning, with seventy- one
examples of having said this [comma] in BYU- EEBO and three examples of
having said that [comma]. Google Ngram shows that as the majority form by
1800, but in COHA that only comes to be dominant in the mid twentieth cen-
tury. While overall the rise in frequency of the active form is less than that of
the passive form (see Figure 7.3 ), there is a substantial rise in the 2000s.
The concessive meaning appears in the mid twentieth century. My earliest
examples are given in (13):
(13) a. Thus, we can assume with considerable reason that the violence of Japanese
reaction on Leyte is an expression of a need for time so desperate that it