Eric has written, "An afghan's a wonderful hound / Silky hair in his coat does abound." I recall the old Christmas carol ending

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Back in the days when the word doth was used, how did it differ from does? I imagine there were usages where only does was proper ("He does the dishes), but were there any where only doth could be used?

"Me thinks she doth protest too much.

Does doesn't work there as well.

I don't think so. Doth is simply the -eth form of do, and the difference is the same as that between cometh and comes. The southern -eth ending was being replaced by the northern -s around 1600. It was formal and slightly old-fashioned when Shakespeare and the AV translators used it.

At around the same time the verb do was becoming an auxiliary: at first without noticeable extra meaning in I do come, then being required with negatives and interrogatives, I do not come; Do I not come?

However, this auxiliary use seems to have either doth or does simply as whichever the speaker would say as a main verb. I'm not aware there was any differentiation, though you could go through Shakespeare and see if there was any tendency to use, say, She does it well vs She doth protest by the same speaker in the same circumstances.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aput,

Yes, what aput said. The difference between doth and does used to be dialectal and is now historical: third person singular present indicative form of to do.

quote:

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Originally posted by Hic et ubique:
...I recall the old Christmas carol ending
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor _doth_ He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

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AHA! It's a trap!!

Hic has obviously quoted the above Christmas carol in the full expectation that I will blow a blood vessle in pointing out that "men" does not rhyme with "deep" or "sleep."

Having been thoroughly briefed in these matters by Tinman, Bob Hale, and others I now understand that this is what is known as a "near rhyme" and, as such, is perfectly acceptable to some people.


Thought you had me there, didn't you, Hic?!

CJ The "men" is used not as a near-rhyme, but as part of a refrain repeated at the end of each stanza. The full text is here.

I'm surrounded by smiley faces!!

I assume this means you're aware that I was joking.

All the bells then pealed louder and deeper
Tolling: "God hasn't met with the reaper;
Clear speech will prevail
(He'll put mumblers in jail)
And the OED fees will get cheaper."

Before you mention it, no, I'm not planning a hymnal in limerick form.