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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

It needs done

131 replies

EllaAtLarge · 05/08/2026 14:34

I am sure in the past we used to say “it needs to be done.” Or “it needs doing”.

Why do people now say “it needs done”?

I hate it.

Aibu?

OP posts:
Thepeopleversuswork · 05/08/2026 19:18

@BauhausOfEliott

It grates on me too, but I don't think it's performative stupidity. You can't measure intelligence by dialect, and someone who uses dialect or slang or has a strong regional accent isn't any less intelligent than someone who speaks in RP.

I get that regional accents don't correlate with poor intelligence, of course, but this isn't about regional accents. It's about deliberately choosing to omit a critical part of what makes the sentence grammatically meaningful.

Nobody said this until about ten years ago.

Pinkflamingo10 · 05/08/2026 19:01

Everyone says this in Scotland

ThisOneLife · 05/08/2026 19:00

GinAndJuice99 · 05/08/2026 14:35

Literally never heard anyone say this

People say this, or a version of this all the time. I hate it too!

The car needs washed
The dog needs walked
The washing needs sorted.
etc, etc

Jimmyneutronsforehead · 05/08/2026 18:59

Thepeopleversuswork · 05/08/2026 16:37

maybe it's one of those things like people suddenly, nationwide, starting to say 'I'm going gym' or 'I'm going Tesco' instead of 'I'm going to the gym' or 'I'm going to Tesco'.

I hate this. It sounds like performative stupidity to me.

Also: I'm coming with. Can I come with?

With whom?!

😡

Crusttt · 05/08/2026 18:57

UhOhRatPoo · 05/08/2026 16:24

“He’s came” and “they’ve went” are examples of a pattern of incorrect grammar that is quite prevalent in Scotland. I do not include “the dishwasher needs emptied” in that category.

Show quote history

Agree that 'the dishwasher needs emptied' would be used in Scotland by people who would never say 'they've went' but from a sociolinguistics view, dialectal speech is not incorrect. It is non-standard rather than substandard. If you study individual dialects, they are as rule-governed and complex as Standard English.

OriginalSkang · 05/08/2026 18:51

An ex of mine 20+ years ago used to say this. He was southern English but had Scottish parents

MyNameIsTina · 05/08/2026 18:49

Scottish people use this turn of phrase. They are not being unreasonable!

Stopfolding · 05/08/2026 18:25

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Coldhot · 05/08/2026 17:17

malware · 05/08/2026 17:11

Other languages have always influenced English. It's a mongrel language composed of French, Latin., Old Norse, Old English and more besides. "It needs done" and "I'm going gym" relate back to other languages that Scottish and Asian people speak. I don't know how you can be surprised (let alone annoyed) that the language structures of bilingual people bleed back into English.

Personally, I love that you can hear the accent of the people saying those phrases from written text.

Edited

Is that the way it’s said in Scots?

malware · 05/08/2026 17:11

Other languages have always influenced English. It's a mongrel language composed of French, Latin., Old Norse, Old English and more besides. "It needs done" and "I'm going gym" relate back to other languages that Scottish and Asian people speak. I don't know how you can be surprised (let alone annoyed) that the language structures of bilingual people bleed back into English.

Personally, I love that you can hear the accent of the people saying those phrases from written text.

nomas · 05/08/2026 17:10

I thought it was regional too.

I do think when sellers say ‘needs gone’ it sounds like they’re making it your personal problem to buy that item or take it away.

redboxerclub · 05/08/2026 17:09

Needs done, needs gone, done amazing. all from Facebook.

done amazing wound me up for years before need gone.

I’m not sure what part of speech it is but if some one more pedantic than me can tell me, I’d be grateful!

Yes, they are probably all acceptable in regional dialects but they are becoming some weird social media dialect but written!

I think id say - done amazingly well?

Lookingdownthebarrell · 05/08/2026 17:09

BauhausOfEliott · 05/08/2026 16:56

That's not a dialect or a speech pattern though. It's essentially just a phonetic representation of a misheard phrase. When people write 'would of' it's because they've been mishearing 'would've'.

Show quote history

To me it reflects a lack of education, and it grates on me.

Pistachiocake · 05/08/2026 17:07

For the same reason we say "snuck" or "I got an invite".

Zanatdy · 05/08/2026 17:07

Probably regional. I’d say its needs doing not done

Coldhot · 05/08/2026 17:05

hugasaurus · 05/08/2026 15:30

Interested to know if it’s also used in Ireland actually, as there are often a lot of commonalities between Scottish and Irish regional dialects.

Not where I am in Ireland anyway (south coast). I’ve never heard it used.
The commonalities with Scotland are more evident in the north of the country and in NI though.

MadamWhippy · 05/08/2026 17:04

hugasaurus · 05/08/2026 15:30

Interested to know if it’s also used in Ireland actually, as there are often a lot of commonalities between Scottish and Irish regional dialects.

No not used in ROI. Neither is "I was sat waiting". Both sound odd.
We use " It needs to be done" and "I was waiting"

MixedFeelingsNoFeelings · 05/08/2026 17:04

You hear it a lot in This Farming Life, about Scottish farmers.

TRNSMTtaxi · 05/08/2026 17:01

It’s one of these things that as a Scottish person you don’t realise is a Scottish specific thing (see also ‘outwith’ and ‘diluting juice’!) until someone points it out. It’s certainly something I say many times a day - usually when instructing teenage boys! The dog needs fed, your room needs cleaned, your laundry needs done etc etc. Completely different to things that do sound ungrammatical to me but are also commonly said locally eg ‘youse’ (admittedly that is a useful word in a way but I can’t bring myself to say it😂)

Coldhot · 05/08/2026 17:01

Chocolatefreak · 05/08/2026 15:15

It needs doing, or it needs to be done. I was sitting = RP.
It needs done, I was sat = regional variation.

I mean, I was sitting isn’t just RP.
It’s probably not even mostly RP.

I’m Irish and would never say I was sat, or I was stood. I’d always use sitting or standing.
(I wouldn’t say needs done either.)

BauhausOfEliott · 05/08/2026 16:56

Lookingdownthebarrell · 05/08/2026 16:54

Any thoughts on “would of” instead of “would have” ?

Edited

That's not a dialect or a speech pattern though. It's essentially just a phonetic representation of a misheard phrase. When people write 'would of' it's because they've been mishearing 'would've'.

MerryUmberHedgehog · 05/08/2026 16:56

They dont!

Empress13 · 05/08/2026 16:56

Not heard that but I do hate I done this instead of I did this !! Grinds my flamin gears

Lookingdownthebarrell · 05/08/2026 16:54

Any thoughts on “would of” instead of “would have” ?

BauhausOfEliott · 05/08/2026 16:54

Thepeopleversuswork · 05/08/2026 16:37

maybe it's one of those things like people suddenly, nationwide, starting to say 'I'm going gym' or 'I'm going Tesco' instead of 'I'm going to the gym' or 'I'm going to Tesco'.

I hate this. It sounds like performative stupidity to me.

It grates on me too, but I don't think it's performative stupidity. You can't measure intelligence by dialect, and someone who uses dialect or slang or has a strong regional accent isn't any less intelligent than someone who speaks in RP.

I suspect some people who say it are affecting the speech patterns of a different class demographic, but trying to sound more working class / more urban is of course not the same thing at all as trying to sound stupid.