Have you ever been puzzled by the presence of the word “do” in a sentence like “Do let’s do this again”? This usage actually dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, where “do” was used as an auxiliary verb to politely encourage a command.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this “do” is used to add emphasis or urgency to an entreaty, exhortation, or command. The earliest citation of this usage can be found in the Wessex Gospels from the late 900s.
The second “do” in the sentence refers to the action of performing something, with its earliest citation in the Old English translation of “De Consolatione Philosophiae” by Boethius.
If you’re curious about the contraction “let’s” in the sentence, you can read more about it in a post from 2012 on the Grammarphobia blog.
To further illustrate this usage, consider the title of Gareth Russell’s recent book, “Do Let’s Have Another Drink! The Dry Wit and Fizzy Life of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother” (2022).
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