How interesting. I live in California but grew up in the Midwest and I don't believe I've heard that in either place.

I have spent some time in the NY tri-state area and never heard people talk like that. I noticed on these boards that people seem to skip the words "to be" when talking about something that needs "to be" fixed. I've never heard people talk that way. Is this a regional thing? I've spent most of my time in the Northeast and now in CA. Or have people just become lazy in this time of emails and texting and are taking short-cuts with speech and the written word!

I've spent my life in 3 midwestern states and not heard it said that way. Those little regional sayings & varying use of language fascinate me. (As does dialect and it's origins.) Guess I'm curious how far outside the NYC area that particular way of phrasing reaches.

I haven't heard that, but I find that I'm leaving out definite articles, particularly "the," occasionally as a result of being around foreign born people who do that.

Perhaps something similar is going on? I dunno.

I have never heard it in the Heart of Dixie. But I have heard "needs fixed" and "needs fixin," but again, this is the south. ;D I always say "needs to be repaired" or fixed.

Once you guys have these mysteries figured out, please tell me where the all-purpose locution "You all set?" came from. I don't recall having heard it before moving to New England. Honestly, it is used for just about every single interaction out in the world - retail, dining, doctor's office - and it makes me crazy!!

Moon, your phrase sounds very Jersey to me. Which is almost like NYC.

Grew up outside Philadelphia, spent summers at the Jersey shore and DH is from NY-never heard that before. Just sounds like poor English to me. I did grow up with "Are we all set?" meaning ready to go.

Down here, some would say "I've been knowin' Anne for 15 years."

Well, I grew up in North Jersey, and while we are particular about going down the shore, I have never heard that saying Moonshadow posted. :)

Here's another Jersey girl and I've never heard that phrase. I head into NYC on a regular basis and I haven't heard it used there either.

My husband is from North Jersey and his family definitely does say that and so do many people in the area where he grew up. I've heard it a zillion times. It always bugs me.
I'm sure it is a New Jersey/New York thing. They state tenses incorrectly in certain instances.

They also say "on line" as opposed to "in line" referring to waiting in a line somewhere. Another example is I have to "bring" something back to the store as opposed to "take"
something back.

Hope this doesn't sidetrack the thread too much, but I find it interesting that I, and most people that I know here in the states, would say: "The family has a large estate", while in England it's "The family have a large estate." Or -- "McDonalds has the McRib back on the menu" in the states; in England, "McDonalds have the McRib back on the menu." They treat entities in conversation a bit differently across the pond than we do here. I find that certain difference to be fascinating.

I've never heard that expression before. Sounds like a new trend is being tried out?

DawnP, I've always said 'on line' as opposed to in line. Drives my friend crazy, she insists it's in line. I read somewhere that the proper term is on line, but that was before we were all 'on line' with our computers.

And I've often heard the phrase bring something back to the store. It's pretty interchangeable.

I've never heard it either, and I watch that show. It's gone right over my head if they've said it.

What about the Brits dropping "the" when they say hospital or university. "I went to hospital". I get a brain hickup every time I hear that.

I work with someone from Ohio who uses the "needs (verb-ed)" expression. She is the only person I have ever known who uses it. I have lived north of Boston all my life - an area with plenty linguistic oddities (except this one)!

AuntJen--you are right about the English and how they treat coolective nouns--we use the grammar for a singular noun and they use the grammar for a plural noun, generally speaking (grammar always has exceptions). Americans see the group as a singular thing; the British see the collection of people/things.

Amysrq--I had no idea that "You all set?" is a New England regionalism. I guess I'm so used to it that it doesn't make an impact. But really, it's just a form of "Is everything all right?" And now I'm going to be going nuts until I figure out where the phrase comes from.

Back to the OP--I've never heard this usage, and I've lived all over New England, and in New Jersey and Philadelphia. I now have a lovely sis-in-law from upstate New York, and her family doesn't use it, either. My nephews pick up on all the regional differences in speech between the two sides of their families and drive us all crazy with them--they have figured out that they have "ahnts" on their father's side of the family and "ants" on their mother's side, and heaven help the unwary person who calls Ant Cathy,"Ahnt Cathy" or Ahnt Sue "Ant Sue,"--you will be corrected. None of the ahnts or ants really cares what they are called, just so long as the kids are willing to play with us. But we go around apologizing for using the wrong name all the time.

Thanks dawnp! I found a video of Sonja saying it. "Um, Ramona I know forever". She says it about 2:30 mark on the video linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Get To Know Sonja Morgan video

I have a coworker who leaves out the "to be" all the time. ie., "that needs cleaned", "I don't want pulled over", etc. She has lived in S. Oregon her entire life. I don't hear anyone else in the area leaving out infinitives.
PBS did a series "Do You Speak American?", which discusses some of the interesting variations in our language.

Here is a link that might be useful: Do You Speak American?

Pesky - You're right about the "on line" vs "in line". Both are gramatically acceptable. It just sounds strange to those who are not used to it.

The "bring it back" is incorrect, however.

Here's a short explanation from Grammer Girl:

What is the Difference Between Bring and Take?
Whether you use bring or take depends on your point of reference for the action. The quick and dirty tip is that you ask people to bring things to the place you are, and you take things to the place you are going.

Re "ant" vs. "ahnt" ... I am most definitely ant Jen. My little nephews and niece would howl with laughter if I were to tell them that in some circles, I would be an ahnt. ;-)

...this is EXACTLY why I call her "AJ" in internet threads...;-)

Faron

(Uffda...)

Needs fixed is definitely a Philly area regionalism. I grew up a few hours north of Philly and never heard it up there (though we had our own set of winners, including "yous" and most notably "heyna", which is a twisted version of "ain't it?" as in "nice day out, heyna?"). When I first moved down here, it drove me nuts hearing everyone say "needs fixed" or "needs washed" but now I find myself doing it all the time. It always seems to be the past tense here as well -- people don't say "needs fixing" -- it's always "needs fixed".

Never heard that either, but I lived outside Philadelphia, so maybe it's specific to the city itself or to certain areas?

The only person I've ever known to do that is my DH, he speaks 3 different languages and will sometimes say something incorrect in English if he's been talking Russian or Swedish. So maybe some people do it because their bi-lingual or something. If not, I sure hope it's just not a new trend like short cuts in typing or some of the slang being used now; I have a hard enough time keeping up as it is :c)

I don't think it's a new trend lukki (at least based on my hearing it in movies, going back quite a ways). It's not common, tho. But then when Sonja & occasionally one of the others started saying it a lot, that's what made me start to wonder again.

I need to reread terriks link, looks rather fascinating but definitely not a skim over type article. Thanks! :)

Jen, interesting about the British. (I often wonder if they view us as having butchered the King's English. ;) Look how much their language has changed just since the Tudor/Elizabethan eras. I saw a special on History Channel once, about how language evolved in Britain tracing it as far back in recorded history as they could. Honestly what they started out with isn't even close to what's used today. I get so engrossed in all this!

I've never heard it but I've never heard of that show either LOL.

tina

'What about the Brits dropping "the" when they say hospital or university. "I went to hospital". I get a brain hickup every time I hear that.'

Think how funny it would sound if you said "I went to the school" instead of "I went to school"--use church as well, "I went to the church" vs "I went to church"

In Chicago we have a couple of major grocery stores named Jewel & Dominick's. You'll hear people say I'm going to 'the Jewel' or 'the Dominick's' and both are noted Chicagoisms.

Northern Californians would say "I'm driving on 15 (freeway)" and here in SoCal we say "I'm driving on THE 15", and NoCals make fun of us for saying that!

Northern Californians would say "I'm driving on 15 (freeway)" and here in SoCal we say "I'm driving on THE 15", and NoCals make fun of us for saying that!
>/i>

As well they should! ;>

LOL Terriks!

Here we laugh at NoCal's for saying "hella" and we're not quite sure what it means!

How about the word seen, as in, I seen that before~~drives me nuts! It seems to be a southern AND a midwest 'misnomer'. My neighbors use this constantly, one being from IN, the other from WY. My best friend from IL has been using it for years and after 52 years of friendship, i'm not about to correct her.

So what is correct~~I have seen or I saw, which is usually my choice.

Have heard this both in TX and NC~~might could. Sounds like 'back woods' talk to me. ;o)

Speaking of regional expressions, on Trailrunners latest thread Mitchdesj posted a comment "Keep well, you are so much tanner already." I had never heard it put that way before. Thought it may be regional?

chijim...I never thought of it that way! How come we drop "the" with school but not with hospital??