It needs cleared - grammar?

[Tittie]

Watching Homes Under the Hammer while baby naps and I noticed that one of the presenters keeps using the above way of talking, e.g.

It needs done (not 'it needs to be done')
It needs cleared, rather than it needs to be cleared

I realise I've heard it elsewhere recently, is this a regional thing? The presenter saying it has a Scottish accent. It really jars when I hear it

I see it a lot on Mumsnet and would love to know where it's from, ie is it regional or is it something new? I've gotten nowhere googling it because it isn't specific enough (and I'm rubbish at grammar terms). Would love a linguist to explain.

I'm Scottish and when I first read it, it jarred a little bit written down.

But then I realised I would say...
That needs fixed or
That needs cleared by tomorrow
That wall needs painted

Although I would also sometimes say
That needs to be fixed...cleared....painted

Maybe just a slightly lazy but also regional thing?

I haven't heard either of those expressions in the past tense - the more usual English (British English) way would be to say "needs doing" or "needs clearing". I first heard this in the context of food, where someone gave me some fruit saying "this needs eating". I've never heard anyone say "this needs eaten" but I can believe it's a regionalism within the UK where the "to be" is dropped but implied. The Yorkshire dialect for example drops the definite article "the".

Americans wouldn't say either "needs eating" or "needs eaten" - it would always be "needs to be eaten". (At least in my extended family's dialect).

It’s Scottish - have heard it all over the place, central belt and elsewhere.

I find it very jarring!

It's ungrammatical. I don't like it, but I think a lot of things are ok in spoken dialect which are ridiculous in written form.

No, it is not ungrammatical. It's standard Scots usage. (And Scots is a language not a dialogue).
It's explained here:
www.scots-online.org/grammar/verbs.php

This is what that very authoritative site says (my emphasis):

" Note that want and need are regularly followed by a past participle.
The bairn wants taen hame at fower oors.
The child would like to be be taken home at four o' clock.
Ma caur needs washt.
My car needs to be washed."

Wretched autocorrect: should be dialect, not dialogue.

See also here, sub-section 4:

dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/need_v_n1

For anyone interested in this sort of thing, the online Dictionary of the Scotls Language is a fabulous resource: dsl.ac.uk/about-dsl/

I'm Scottish and didn't realise that wasn't what everyone said. Language is fascinating.

I live in Yorkshire, it's a speech pattern you sometimes hear here. If it's also a thing in Scotland maybe it's something that was inherited from old Danish. I know a lot of Yorkshire dialects come down directly from that.

In standard English it is ungrammatical. The accompanying verb needs to be made into a gerund or an infinitive.

DH uses it. He’s N Irish. It’s a local dialect thing.

@florascotia2 thanks for that excellent explanation.

I have noticed this a lot recently too. I have often thought about starting a thread too. I'm not great at grammar so I wondered if I was wrong but it really annoys me, more so when I see it written down than spoken.

I've always found it really irritating but it helps to know its Scots and isn't just bad grammar! It won't annoy me now

I'm Scottish living in England. That is the Scottish way to say it (my hair needs cut) the English way jarred for me for a long time (my hair needs cutting). Now I tend to say it the Scottish way in my head and English out loud.

See also Pittsburgh English
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Pennsylvania_English

I'm Scottish and I have always found "that needs doing" jarring.

To me, it's more logical to say "that needs done" rather than "that needs doing" because you want the job finished, ie done, surely?

I probably use this and never recognised it as a part of dialect.
I'll be sure to go strong on the usage from now on !😀

Scots as a language separated from English several hundred years ago. As a previous poster pointed out, it was influenced by Scandinavian languages, and also by Gaelic, French, Latin and more...

Really excellent brief article, with languages 'family tree' here, showing how English and Scots have separated:
dsl.ac.uk/about-scots/what-is-scots/

Another brief intro and detailed timeline of writings in Scots here:
www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/117

Thanks @florascotia2 for the explanation!

I do find it fascinating how much language varies by region. It really upsets my DH that I say 'oh she gave it me for my birthday' rather than 'gave me it', but his way sounds so wrong to me!

Both your ways sound wrong to me! I'd say "she gave it to me for my birthday"

It’s the natural way of saying it where I am from in NI. It would take a conscious effort for me to remember to say “it needs to be cleared” it doesn’t come naturally.

I didn't know it was Scots and Irish and Yorkshire... it only seems to have popped up recently in my world.
I don't even remember my now deceased Scots father saying it.
Odd.

"I'm Scottish and I have always found "that needs doing" jarring.

To me, it's more logical to say "that needs done" rather than "that needs doing" because you want the job finished, ie done, surely?"

Yeh, this explains it for me. I wouldn't say "the dog needs feeding", for example, but I probably would say "the dog needs fed".