Quote:
Originally Posted by chaika
negative trans. verbs often take gen. direct object instead of acc. Use of the acc. has been creeping in for many years now, esp. when the object is tangible. Often nowadays you can go either way. Usually the gen. is the more literary form where you have a choice.
рук-# is the gen. pl. of рук-а.
I guess I understand that -- I'm used to doing it with нет (к примеру "Миши нет здесь и т.д.), but not with just the не.
So if I was Пушкин I would say Не ломай рук, but if I was your contemporary хулиган I may opt for Не ломай руки, right?