I read a post from a lady that now lives in Pennsylvania, but she didn’t grow up here. [I'm sorry I can't remember where it is; it wasn't one of my normal blog stops.] She mentioned several differences she noticed in PA and mentioned that we drop the words “to be.”
She is right. I constantly say things like, “My hair needs cut”; instead of “My hair needs to be cut.” I also say…
- The clothes need washed.
- The dog needs fed.
- The room needs cleaned.
- The dishes need dried.
- The floor needs vacuumed.
- The toys need picked up.
- The car needs moved.
- etc., etc., etc. [It's all true!]
It was amazing – once I thought about it – how many times I do leave out the words, “to be.” There are some phrases -or lack of phrases- that I hear often and don’t say; but I definitely neglect “to be.”
Are there any grammar quirks where you live? Where you grew up?
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Ha! The first time I heard this quirk was my first week of college at Penn State. I was so startled by it I mentioned it to the girl who said it. She assured me that it was grammatically correct. I assured her that it was not.
Then I met my husband, who is from central PA and does it as well. At first it drove me crazy. Then I could laugh about it. Now I find myself saying it as well.
This room needs cleaned!
MainlineMom´s last [type] ..Fourth Grade!
The grammar of people around me creeps up on me too! So far I’m holding out against “I seen.” That’s like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
I have to go because I have a post that needs written.
That was one of the first grammar quirks I noticed when I moved here. Hubby leaves out the words “to be” all the time. My children are starting to do the same thing. It drives me CRAZY!
One of the biggest grammar quirks where I grew up is leaving the “r” off the end of most words. That also drives me crazy. lol Thankfully it is not something I picked up on after living there for 22 years. I’m sure I have my own grammar quirks though.
I forgot to add, People in PA do talk funny.
I have always wondered at the fact that you don’t have a New England accent. Your mom definitely has an accent. Good luck with getting your children to be good with grammar.
We may talk funny but we are so awesome!!!
I have lived here all my life so it doesn’t sound funny to me…. the rest of the world sounds ‘funny’ to me!! hehehe I am not sure if I leave ‘to be’ off or not though!! I will have to pay attention and think about it!! haha
I agree! I don’t have an accent – everybody else does!
I didn’t realize I left the words out until I read that other post.
PA people have sounded different but I never noticed the leaving off of to be. After living here for 37 years I guess I don’t pay attention anymore. I don’t know if I do that or not. Will listen to others around and probably drive myself nuts. I hate it when people say things that are gramatically incorrect but I love to hear southern people talk. It bugs me to no end when people say got instead of have .
Because we invented English. It’s our language and we will do what we want with it. We lent it to you in the good faith that you would do it justice and what do you do? Spell things wrong and say its right. Its COLOUR not COLOR and its GREY not GRAY. You talk funny, not us!!!
I definitely speak American and not English.
I don’t talk funny at all, other english people understand me perfectly fine thank you, besides where I’m from (cheshire area) people have a mix of accents and so I don’t even know what my accent is!
I don’t even care if you can’t understand me. I can tolerate the worst english accent way more than I can people in the US that actually use “”words”" like “”y’all”"!
I love to listen to the part in My Fair Lady where Professor Higgins describes all the English accents.
And for the record – I don’t say “y’all.”
Just got back after spending two weeks in Central PA. I miss hearing that the lawn needs mowed and the clothes need ironed. I miss hoagies and sweet baloney and the best whoopie pies in the country (sorry Maine but not even close). Enjoy those wonderful lilting Pennsylvania accents. I once had a voice teacher who said that the music of different dialects is a reflection of the landscape in which they are heard. Nothing could be more true for the rolling ridges and valleys of Central PA.
Love those foods and I think I ate them all last week.
Never heard that about the dialects, but it makes sense!