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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:
wishingonastar101 · 05/08/2026 16:53

London here and 'I'm going gym' etc. is chav talk.

RafaFan · 05/08/2026 16:52

AllMyExesWearRolexes · 05/08/2026 15:05

It's Scots and it's fine.

I had never thought of it as Scots specifically, but it certainly sounds entirely normal to my Scottish ears. It must just be becoming more common outwith Scotland. Now there's another good Scottish word...

BauhausOfEliott · 05/08/2026 16:48

EllaAtLarge · 05/08/2026 15:07

@BauhausOfEliott

My young/female/Asian/west London colleagues ALL say “I’m going supermarket” or “I’m going gym”.

Not sure if it that is influence of age / gender/ethnicity/regional grammar as I don’t get out much (which you could have possibly guessed based on the really dull topic of this thread 😆)

I definitely don't think it's down to region or ethnicity because I hear it in both London (where I'm from) and Manchester (where I live) and I hear white people say it - including my nieces - so I think it's more of an age one! My brother was teasing his daughter (she's 20) last time I saw him for saying she was 'going Co-op'.

MiddleAgedDread · 05/08/2026 16:46

I've noticed an increasing use of "I done (thing)" or "he done (thing)" too. It goes through me.

RafaFan · 05/08/2026 16:46

Can you give an example of a conversation where this sentence would be used? I can't see a problem with it in some circumstances, e.g. talking to a grumpy teenager:
Me: You'd better wash your hair tonight.
Grumpy teenager: Why?
Me: Because it needs done, it's mingin'.

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.

WhatWouldGinDo · 05/08/2026 16:35

Its a northern thing. Heard it when I went from living in the deep rural south (of England!) to a northern uni, and it drove me bonkers. My otherwise lovely, highly educated lawyer flatmate from Kendal would say "it needs washed" or "I needs bought" and would give me the rage.

Still does, although i sometimes find myself saying it.

cabus · 05/08/2026 16:33

I used to watch Homes Under The Hammer a lot. The Scottish presenter on there said it about most of the houses she went in and she wasn't wrong.

Lifeomars · 05/08/2026 16:26

Never heard it before

TherapistInATabard · 05/08/2026 16:26

My husband is from Northern Ireland and says this

suki1964 · 05/08/2026 16:25

Used here where I live - Ulster Scots

Needs Gone
Needs done
I knowed that
Just a few of the phrases I hear daily - and have annoyingly picked up myself

When I first moved here, I had to make a conscience effort not to correct people on their grammar - and Im no expert

UhOhRatPoo · 05/08/2026 16:24

Yetanothername3 · 05/08/2026 16:17

I have heard this many times from a Scottish chap, who had been living in London for a long time.
Another colleague used to omit the n from an + vowel sound, so a egg. Irritating.
A further colleague used to say we was, which is just wrong.
Plus the number of times I have seen or heard he's came, they've went etc.

“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.

PenelopePinkerton · 05/08/2026 16:22

I’ve never heard it either.

UhOhRatPoo · 05/08/2026 16:22

Renamedyetagain · 05/08/2026 16:17

Mid 40s, Scottish and had zero idea this wasn't the way it was said all over e.g. the dishwasher needs emptied or the bed needs changed.

Have people been judging me all these years?!

Show quote history

I moved to England when I was 18. It wasn’t until I was 26 that someone pointed out to me that this turn of phrase was not used by English people.

On the upside that was 8 years of people being polite rather than claiming to be irritated, annoyed or disgusted by my “bad grammar”. 5 minutes on Mumsnet, on the other hand…

QuickPlumLeader · 05/08/2026 16:20

Another Scot coming to say “it needs done” or “it’s needing done” is very normal here. I probably say needing more tbh.

Piccly · 05/08/2026 16:19

Isn't that another of those regional things that dome people will swear blind is never ever said and which is normal everyday language for others?

Undethetree · 05/08/2026 16:18

I see it on here all the time, I hate it too!

Scorchio84 · 05/08/2026 16:18

PolkaDotPorridge · 05/08/2026 14:57

I see similar on social media. It needs gon, in relation to selling/giving an item away. Or the dog needs walked. It’s very irritating.

Oh that's horrendous, I also find "I was sat" a bit grating too

Yetanothername3 · 05/08/2026 16:17

I have heard this many times from a Scottish chap, who had been living in London for a long time.
Another colleague used to omit the n from an + vowel sound, so a egg. Irritating.
A further colleague used to say we was, which is just wrong.
Plus the number of times I have seen or heard he's came, they've went etc.

Renamedyetagain · 05/08/2026 16:17

UhOhRatPoo · 05/08/2026 16:12

Have you heard :

It needs washed
It needs cut
it needs hoovered
It needs fixed
It needs finished

All of these are completely natural to me as a Scot and I can’t emphasise enough how foreign it would feel to me to say “the grass needs cutting” or “the shelf needs fixing”

I am generally well spoken and use correct grammar (my Dad was a radio newsreader). I never say “I seen her in town” or “I done the test”. But using the past participle wth the verb “need” does not feel incorrect to me. Surely it’s just a contraction of “it needs TO BE washed” etc and describes the end state of the action- (a washed car, cut grass etc) Why would a present participle such as “washing” be more grammatically correct?

Edited
Show quote history

Mid 40s, Scottish and had zero idea this wasn't the way it was said all over e.g. the dishwasher needs emptied or the bed needs changed.

Have people been judging me all these years?!

Mousespoons · 05/08/2026 16:17

My colleague says it, broad West Country accent

UhOhRatPoo · 05/08/2026 16:13

BasketCaseBug · 05/08/2026 16:13

I only see it on mumsnet and find it irrationally irritating. I don't know why it bothers me so much, it just does.

Never go to Scotland then. You will lose the plot.

BasketCaseBug · 05/08/2026 16:13

I only see it on mumsnet and find it irrationally irritating. I don't know why it bothers me so much, it just does.

UhOhRatPoo · 05/08/2026 16:12

icingonmycupcake · 05/08/2026 16:01

I've lived in Scotland for over 50yrs and never heard 'it needs done'. 🤔

Show quote history

Have you heard :

It needs washed
It needs cut
it needs hoovered
It needs fixed
It needs finished

All of these are completely natural to me as a Scot and I can’t emphasise enough how foreign it would feel to me to say “the grass needs cutting” or “the shelf needs fixing”

I am generally well spoken and use correct grammar (my Dad was a radio newsreader). I never say “I seen her in town” or “I done the test”. But using the past participle wth the verb “need” does not feel incorrect to me. Surely it’s just a contraction of “it needs TO BE washed” etc and describes the end state of the action- (a washed car, cut grass etc) Why would a present participle such as “washing” be more grammatically correct?

Boreded · 05/08/2026 16:12

Not in my (close to Yorkshire) part of the north