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From a science fiction movie entitled The Mist (2007):

— Nobody else heard that sound?
— What sound?
— I don't know. Like a weird noise. Back there in the dark. Like something was, like, pressing against the door.
— Did you hear it before the lights went out or after?
— No, only after. But, look, I heard it, okay?
— Nobody's calling you a liar.
— That's what it sounds like.
— No, no, no, no. Now, don't be that away, Mr Drayton. You had a scare, no doubt. What say we all go check it out?

What does that exprssion exactly mean?

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    I think it is supposed to be "Now, don't be that way.
    – user3169
    Nov 28, 2014 at 23:26
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    Or it could be "Don't be that-a-way" which I've heard in some rural dialects. If so, it means the same thing as "Don't be that way."
    – ColleenV
    Nov 28, 2014 at 23:44

1 Answer 1

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Don't be that way means Don't behave that way.

When be is a finite verb, this sense of the word is expressed with the progressive construction.

George is a jerk means that 'jerkness' is a permanent property of George, but
George **is being a jerk means that George is temporarily behaving like a jerk.

In effect, we compel the verb be to act as an activity instead of a copula, and its complement has an adverbial rather than a nominal or adjectival force. Consequently, in questions and commands it takes adverbials of manner where as a copula it would normally take pronominal complements:

Not
What is George being tonight? Don't be that, George.
but
okHow is George being tonight? Don't be that way, George.

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