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On a TV show, a guest, who previously did an impression of Maggie Smith, says to the presenter:

Don't ask me to tell another Maggie Smith story. Every time I see her, she said you've not been doing me again.

The presenter says:

Now you have done her again.

Graham Norton - Maggie Smith Impression (see:2:25-2:37)

I am confused about the meaning, because it has "negative perfect continuous", and the word "again" in the same sentence. Does it mean 1 or 2:

  1. Maggie meant "I don't like you doing me. Don't do it again."

Or,

  1. Maggie meant "It has been quite some time since you last did an impression of me. I enjoy those impressions and you haven't been doing another impression for a long time. So, I want more of them..

Which one?

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    I think what Ian McKellen is actually saying is "You've not been doing me again, have you?" You can't hear the last two words through the audience laughter, but you can read them on his lips.
    – TonyK
    Commented Aug 13 at 17:39
  • @TonyK, Ahhh yes, I have just watched it again. And exactly like you said. His lips say it but not heard due to laughter. Thanks.
    – Yunus
    Commented Aug 13 at 17:57

3 Answers 3

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To "do somebody" (in this context) is to do an impression of someone.

Can you do Ronald Reagan?

Maggie Smith is actually asking a question. She means "You've not been doing me again, have you?" but tag question has been omitted. Since "do" is being used as a regular verb, and not an auxiliary or pro-verb there's nothing surprising about the use of perfect continuous. Exactly the same verb form could be seen with other verbs.

When Father came home smelling of tobacco, Mother said "You've not been smoking again? You promised to quit!".

As in this example the person asking the question knows the answer (yes) and the communicative function of the question is not to get an an answer but to raise a point rhetorically.

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    So, she is actually asking a question but not a question of finding out the fact but to order him not to do it again. I mean she doesn't want him to do an impession of her any more, as in the case of mother not wanting any more smell of tobacco.
    – Yunus
    Commented Aug 12 at 21:55
  • Does she want him to stop doing impressions of her? That depends on the non-verbal context. It's Graham Norton, so probably this is a light hearted response. Imagine Maggie Smith asking the question with an annoyed tone of voice but also with a big smile on her face.
    – Peter Kirkpatrick
    Commented Aug 12 at 23:40
  • @PeterKirkpatrick, If it depends on the non-verbal context, why did Graham norton take it as she had asked the question with an annoyed tone of voice? He said "Now you have done her again," which means "He shouldn't have done it again."
    – Yunus
    Commented Aug 13 at 15:30
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    Because it is playful. He may be feigning annoyance for comedic effect or to play into it.
    – Lichtbringer
    Commented Aug 13 at 20:52
  • I think the tag question is there, just lost in the audience laughter. See my comment to the OP.
    – TonyK
    Commented Aug 14 at 0:03
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Sir Ian McKellen in this interview is telling Graham Norton about Dame Maggie Smith being cross (upset) with McKellen because McKellen has been doing impressions of her, imitating her mannerisms and speech for comedic effect. Thus, when McKellen recounts this to the host Norton, he imitates her voice and attitude by saying sternly,

You've not been doing me again.

to which the cast and audience laugh raucously. What does "You've not been" mean? Well, McKellen is doing an impression of Smith, and Smith is known for her distinctive voice and particular accent. She was born to a Scottish mother and English father, and in some of those dialects, the negation of "you have been" is "you've not been".

In general American English, negative sentences usually contract the auxiliary verb to the negative particle 'not', so they would say "You haven't been", but some UK English dialects (like Smith's) instead contract the subject pronoun to the auxiliary verb even in the negative, as in "I've not a clue how" or "what you'll not do is disobey me".

"doing me again", on the other hand, is referring to doing an impression of someone, as in "I do a great Elvis Presley every Halloween in the karaoke bar". Another dialect thing is that Smith's intonation seems to be imperative rather than interrogative. General American English doesn't phrase questions this way very often, but a good analogue is "I know you haven't been in the cookie jar again", which is clearly a question that the asker expects an answer to. In this example, "You've not been doing me again." is Smith's expectation, and she presents it in a questioning manner so that McKellen has to correct her. This is a common way of expressing disappointment with someone, and McKellen phrases it this way to allude to Smith's many famed stern posh roles as a actress in media such as the Downton Abbey or Harry Potter series.

So in full, McKellen is parodying Smith by pretending to be her sternly chastising him for doing an impression of her. The irony of this is not lost on Norton, and of course Norton points out that

Now you have done her again!

, which McKellen appears to realize, causing him to laugh more.

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    One thing I've left out for brevity is that McKellen and Smith appear to be quite friendly in real life, so it's very likely that Smith is only mildly exasperated at McKellen doing an impression of her. If Smith were truly upset at McKellen, it would be quite unusual for McKellen to bring the issue up on national television.
    – user45266
    Commented Aug 12 at 22:14
  • Why is it not "every time I see her, she says and not said ?Why does the author switch from habitual present to past . In addition the following part of the sentence is present perfect continuous something that was said and is still said
    – Yves Lefol
    Commented Aug 13 at 10:27
  • @YvesLefol You're right that it would be more natural to use "says" instead of "said". I think it was just a slip of the tongue by the speaker.
    – cbh
    Commented Aug 13 at 14:55
  • @YvesLefol Good question! I think OP may have misheard McKellen. McKellen says the line in a rushed way so his speech is not dictionary precise. We would expect to hear "she says you've" as "shee sehz yewve", but when I slow the video down, what I hear is "shee shehge uuve" (soft g, like in mirage, Asia, or Jacques), and it's also VERY close to "she said you've" or "shee shehdjuuve" (as in gin, age, or Jack) and I would accept either because in real time it's almost impossible to tell. But yes, "every time I see her she says" would be the correct tense to use.
    – user45266
    Commented Aug 13 at 22:45
  • @user45266 I just watched it carefully - he may be saying "she's said" (as in, "Every time I see her, she has said..."). It's hard to tell because it's rushed as you say, but that's how I would have phrased it (native BrE RP), and when I try it myself, the end of the elided "has" does get lost in the 'shshs' noise.
    – SusanW
    Commented Aug 14 at 13:35
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A mother might say to her child, "Oh, you've not been playing in the mud again?!" when it is perfectly clear that the child has indeed been playing in the mud. It is a kind of shorthand for "Please tell me you haven't been playing in the mud again! But it won't do any good, because I can see that you have." It is not entirely logical, but that is what it means.

So Ian McKellen is portraying Maggie Smith as saying "Ian, it's no good telling me you haven't being doing me again, because I know you have!" It has the air of a strict but kind mother-figure.

Here is a clip from the film Kes, about a disadvangated child who raises a kestrel. At the 1:03 mark, the child's mother says "Judd! You have not killed this kid's hawk!" meaning "Please tell me you haven't (but I can see that you have)".

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  • Very good explanation and I didn't know that perfect continuous is used for such a function. This is never taught at school.
    – Yunus
    Commented Aug 13 at 16:28

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