What does one thing got to do with the other

[Mike Hussey]

Lefty says to Donnie about killing Nicky:

Lefty: The man held out. He held out on a coke deal.
Donnie: What does one thing got to do with the other?
Lefty: He could have got whacked out just for that, for your information.

What does Donnie dialog mean?
Donnie is asking what is the relation between the man holding out and getting killed?

Source: Donnie Brasco (a 1997 American crime drama film directed by Mike Newell)

 

[jutfrank]

Donnie has two things in mind, and he's asking how they're related. One of those things is the fact that the man held out on a coke deal.

That's all we can tell from this context.

 

[GoesStation]

What does one thing got to do with the other is a casual way to say "What does one thing have to do with the other?", which can also be worded "What has one thing got to do with the other?" Few Americans would use the latter wording.

 

[GoesStation]

We Americans do, however, frequently say things like What's that got to with anything? "What's" is a contraction of what has.

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't use "What does one thing got to do with ..." in an exam setting. I'd mark it as wrong if one of my students used it (BrE). I'd accept only the previously given "What does one thing have to do ..." or "What has one thing got to do ...".

 

[Phaedrus]

We Americans do, however, frequently say things like What's that got to with anything? "What's" is a contraction of what has.

Tina Turner wrote a very famous song featuring that construction: "What's love got to do with it?"

It would be interesting to survey native speakers as to which word they think is contracted there.

 

[GoesStation]

Tina Turner wrote a very famous song featuring that construction: "What's love got to do with it?"

It would be interesting to survey native speakers as to which word they think is contracted there.

What could it be other than "has"?

 

[jutfrank]

I assume that Phaedrus is suggesting that some speakers might think the contraction is of does, not has.

I strongly associate the non-standard use of does for has in this phrase with the north-eastern parts of the US. Is that right, GoesStation?

Because of this, I would naturally read the sentence in the OP in my exaggerated New York accent. (Actually, Donnie Brasco is from New Jersey but that's close enough for me!)

 

[Phaedrus]

What could it be other than "has"?

"Does"

"Does" ends with "s," just as "has" does, and "do"-support is found with "got," especially in Ebonics, which Tina Turner can speak.

See, e.g., the article "Do we got a difference? Divergent developments of semi-auxiliary (have) got (to) in British and American English" (Christian Mair, 2014).

 

[jutfrank]

Phaedrus—maybe you could summarise the conclusions of that article for us?

You mention 'Ebonics' but I'm not sure that this is a feature particular to the speech of African Americans. I'm fairly sure it's a dialectic thing. I have only ever heard it used in north-eastern accents. Do you disagree?

 

[probus]

It is common usage in Canada. For instance "What's he think he's doing?"

 

[GoesStation]

It is common usage in Canada. For instance "What's he think he's doing?"

Ah, of course. That's a completely normal contraction of does in American English.

 

[jutfrank]

Same in British English. Other varieties too, I suppose.

 

[Phaedrus]

Interestingly, on Google, "What does love got to do with it?" seems to top "What has love got to do with it?" 342,000 to 4,410.

 

[Rover_KE]

:shock: