[BigMackCam]

Y'all are raht thar, Parallax.

See, now I'm thinking of the film "Deliverance"...

"Don't let 'em go. These boys is lyin'!"



---------- Post added 01-08-2016 at 11:48 PM ----------

If it is economy you want, make it: "if I'd finished" or "had I finished" or perhaps "if I be done".

We like "had I finished" best - all the economy, no abbreviations!

[Murfy]

Hi Guys,
Bit puzzled here
I have noticed lately americans saying 'If I would have...'
Now I hear it all the time
Down here we say 'If I had'...is the word 'had' not used up there at all ?
Past tense of have...

The other one is 'done'...
Is the word 'finished' not in use there also?

It was someone saying 'If I would have gotten done...' the other day that took the cake
Surely 'if I had finished' is more economical and elegant ?

Our youth down here are adopting these words as US TV brings them up.
sort of depressing

Pete

I think it depends on the dialect of where the person is from. Southern accent and words are different then people who live in northern states. I have people from Massachusetts say finished and speak more formally than say people from Kentucky who speak speak differently. I am using those examples because I know people from both. I live in mid Atlantic us, and there seems to be a huge mix.

May I ask what tv shows say this? Reality tv is not typical of how all Americans speak and act, lol. And some shows are based in different locations and pick up the style of speech from the area. Here, people say warshington instead of Washington and leave the -ing of words so running would be runnin. Phrases like 'ain't got none'. 'You best be gettin home' are mixed in with more correct speaking.

[Transit]

Ha ha

We picked up something from Australasia (apparently) here in the UK... a tendency to add a rising note at the end of a statement, as if asking for confirmation of what has been said. Kids and young adults all seem to be doing it.

For example, in the past, before this became popular, someone might have said:

"I went to the camera shop in town today, and saw this incredible new lens. It was unbelievable!"

Now, our younger (or trendier / more "affected") people here would say:

"I went to the camera shop in town today? I saw this incredible camera? It was unbelievable!"

... with the bits in italics rising in frequency as if asking for confirmation. It really gets on my nerves!!!

That said, I'm sure there are *many* exports from the UK that bug other countries... It's all an inevitable upshot of an increasingly global community. Part of our social evolution, whether we like it or not...

Yeah the rising terminal ( maybe that is the term) is an Aussie thing.
We don't do it. Sounds halarious to my ears

[rod_grant]

An English couple, visiting Australia, stopped to talk as they walked past on the beach.
I asked (pretty confidently) if they were from the Midlands, which they confirmed.
I am no 'Enry 'Iggins (of My Fair Lady fame) but I went to school with a lot of Poms and I learnt some of the nuances of Pommy pronunciation.

[BigMackCam]

Yeah the rising terminal ( maybe that is the term) is an Aussie thing.
We don't do it. Sounds halarious to my ears

"Rising terminal"... I like that, describes it perfectly

[rod_grant]

Rising terminal

Is that what is also known as an inflection?


For mine, there are far too many people infected with inflection!

[wtlwdwgn]

Actually if someone here says, "I'm done," we poke them (with a fork) to see if they are.

[Parallax]

Maybe this will clear things up:
The Dialectizer

[wizofoz]

Apparently the upward inlfiction is quite a problem in Britain.
Does speaking like an Aussie make you sound insecure? | Head to head | Opinion | The Guardian

But I'm not sure the authors advice 'to go down at the end of every sentence' is very useful

[Rupert]

I wud'ev got 'er done.....is the proper way up here in Texas.

Regards!

[bertwert]

I use British English so when I say something like trousers or jumpers everyone here gives me a blank face

[Kath]

I wud'ev got 'er done.....is the proper way up here in Texas.

Regards!

And what are you "up" from up there in Texas?, Rupert? Seems to me, you're "way down there in Texas".

[bertwert]

I wud'ev got 'er done.....is the proper way up here in Texas.

Regards!

And what are you "up" from up there in Texas?, Rupert? Seems to me, you're "way down there in Texas".

Same here Rupert...

[WPRESTO]

Much to the exasperation of pundits and pedants, language evolves. English possibly more so than other languages because we have always freely, willingly, even eagerly adopted and incorporated words, phrases and even rhythms of speech from other languages. There are always some who believe their version of English - vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, syntax - is THE ONE TRUE WAY, THE STANDARD, THE ONLY CORRECT FORM, etc., B.S. I heard an anecdote: in Lebanon there are seven distinct dialects of Arabic. Each of them regards the other six as "gutter Arabic." Two changes in my time I've commented on elsewhere: 1) the word "like" being substituted for "as" ("I hope the new Pentax will be good like we expect," but famously in the advertising phrase "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should.") 2) the substitution of "due to" (meaning a debt) or "since" (relating to time) for "because" or "because of." But LANGUAGE EVOLVES. Rules formalize usage, but it's usage that determines the rules.

[rod_grant]

language evolves

helped along by our American brothers, led I believe by a certain Mr Webster.