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Original poster

Can you tell where someone is from from how they write on MN?

305 replies

Theystoleourrecipe · 02/09/2023 08:41

I've noticed that when going through posts, I'll read something and think, 'oh this person is from x, just by the words and phrases they use. I'll sometimes be able to localise this to a more specific region. I never look at usernames when I'm reading unless something really stands out to me, so I generally don't have any prior knowledge of the poster influencing me. Of course I can't be 100% sure but I would put a bet on being right, most of the time.

Do you ever recognise a particular region through how a poster writes? Are you conscious of how you write, making sure not to use colloquialisms unique to your area or do you not think about it, or do it anyway?

OP posts:

Thread gallery

Mycatisthebestever · 04/09/2023 10:55

The Broons and Oor Wullie are long established books and cartoons. Christmas was not Christmas without one. They originate from DC Thomson in Dundee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broons

The Broons - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broons

AvocadotoastORahouse · 04/09/2023 11:09

watcherintherye · 02/09/2023 10:12

I live in a county verging on the South West, and people often say ‘somewhen’ instead of ‘sometime’, and ‘where’s it to?’ or ‘where’s that to?’ for ‘where is it?’, of a misplaced object, or an enquiry about where a place is.

I now love "somewhen" thank you!

AvocadotoastORahouse · 04/09/2023 11:15

Theystoleourrecipe · 02/09/2023 10:58

In one part of Ireland, skint means that you have no money...30 minutes down the road, it means cold. In one part of Northern Ireland, scundered (or scunnered) means embarrassed, in another it means bored. Amazing how micro the regional differences can be.

And where I'm from, scunnered means you're sick of something by having too much of it/fed up of it.

So if I ate 17 mince pies at Christmas and then DH offered me another one, I'd say yes no thanks, I've scunnered maesel wi 'em (sickened myself with them)

AvocadotoastORahouse · 04/09/2023 11:17

Ah, as well as the bread roll map of the UK and Ireland, we really need a "what we call those rubber soled shoes children wear in school" map. 😁

Jimmies - you wear them in the gym (jim)

North Scotland

AvocadotoastORahouse · 04/09/2023 11:22

LadyBird1973 · 02/09/2023 12:40

Actually I think American English is fine - it evolved from the English used when Brits settled in that part of the world, so is different but not necessarily wrong. It's probably similar to old English in many ways.

'Needs washed' never used to be used in standard English (as used in England). It's a relatively new thing to be set. In wider use. It looks and sounds wrong and no one will convince me otherwise

My Scottish granny said "needs washed" and she was born over a century ago, we've always said it that way here.

AvocadotoastORahouse · 04/09/2023 11:31

LadyBird1973 · 03/09/2023 21:25

It might be a regional dialect in Scotland but it's not grammatically correct in standard English. People who say 'needs washed' or 'hospickle' will be judged as not speaking properly. They may or may not care about that, but it is true.

Scots is an actual language, not a dialect.

AvocadotoastORahouse · 04/09/2023 11:32

AllMyExesWearRolexes · 03/09/2023 23:05

Love the Scots usage of "pure" as an intensifier, "messages" for shopping /groceries, "boak" for puke, "gonnae no' do that pal" to folk who're annoying you, "did ye aye" when what you really mean is "you're full of shit", "glaikit" for clumsy & probably thousands of others that I can't remember.
Never got the hang of "back of" as in "back of 7" - is it after 7 o'clock?
I'm Cornish but my granny was Scots & when I was a kid, if they didn't want me to understand, she & my mum would speak to each other in broad Scots.
My best uni mate was Aberdonian & when very drunk he'd mutter "Jings, Crivens, Help me Bob" - no idea what that means or who Bob is / was...

It's help ma boab not Bob just to confuse you further

watcherintherye · 04/09/2023 11:41

Another thing my Dad used to say was “I can take that for ma piece” if there was some leftover meat etc. that he could put in his packed lunch!

AllMyExesWearRolexes · 04/09/2023 13:20

@AvocadotoastORahouse
I always thought that was his accent after a few pints!
Can anyone explain "Ya wee dancer!" seems to be similar to "Get in!" as an expression of satisfaction / approval if something is good or has gone well?

Abhannmor · 04/09/2023 13:31

Plenty of shifting going on here in Cork. Used to be ' wearing' in Dublin but I'm not sure if it's still used. Of course yer 'mot' was your gf.

And 'get' seems to have been replaced by 'git'. But sure lookit what can you do.

Mycatisthebestever · 04/09/2023 14:38

but let's not get into boabies 😂

Mycatisthebestever · 04/09/2023 14:39

@AvocadotoastORahouse

Billiebollie · 04/09/2023 14:40

AvocadotoastORahouse · 04/09/2023 11:17

Ah, as well as the bread roll map of the UK and Ireland, we really need a "what we call those rubber soled shoes children wear in school" map. 😁

Jimmies - you wear them in the gym (jim)

North Scotland

We used to call them rubber dollies (Ireland) but I don't know where the name came from

tabulahrasa · 04/09/2023 17:07

AllMyExesWearRolexes · 04/09/2023 08:22

@Mycatisthebestever
Thanks, I've heard of the Broons, is it an Aberdeen / north east Scotland phrase?
(not the Broons, that's a newspaper cartoon I think)

The phrase is probably from Dundee... but most people are going to know it from the comic tbh.

No clue what it literally means, help my is fine but boab.. body? Could be someone called Bob? Maybe the bob’s your uncle guy? 🤣 or could be the boaby... 😳🤔

tabulahrasa · 04/09/2023 17:10

AllMyExesWearRolexes · 04/09/2023 13:20

Yeah that’s what it means, basically well done... again no clue why it’s a dancer 🤣

Chattygirl123 · 04/09/2023 17:27

I'm from Northern Ireland and I never use brought in that way. First encountered it when I lived and worked in the Black Country.

AmIAutumnalNow · 04/09/2023 17:37

aloneagaingreat · 02/09/2023 09:13

@Shayisgreat

Yes, generally if you are still at the place you are referring to you would say brought.

If you are no longer there you would say took.

I brought them here

I took them there.

I have noticed some people say brought instead of took, but never associated it with being Irish.

The bought/brought thing stands out much more but never knew what region it is.

People that say "stop" for staying, eg "are you stopping for tea?" I always assume Yorkshire.

Isn't that to do with translation from Irish

Like some the Scottish phrasing is from Gaidhlig.

AmIAutumnalNow · 04/09/2023 17:39

Theystoleourrecipe · 02/09/2023 09:17

I'm Irish and never conflate brought with bought, nor do any Irish people that I know. I do use brought to describe how I transported someone from one place to another. I brought my friend to the new museum near me and she loved it, for example. I use it interchangeably with took.

I think the first poster to say it was regional misread the post

It wasn't anything to do with bought.

It was brought v took. I also would assume the poster was Irish

Oakbeam · 04/09/2023 19:45

I think the first poster to say it was regional misread the post

That was me and after reading the post again, you are correct. I did.

AmIAutumnalNow · 04/09/2023 23:50

Ignore my posts. I was answering as I was going through rather than reading TFT

BarbaraofSeville · 05/09/2023 03:47

watcherintherye · 04/09/2023 11:41

Another thing my Dad used to say was “I can take that for ma piece” if there was some leftover meat etc. that he could put in his packed lunch!

I was in Aberdeen a few months ago and I was offered a 'fancy piece' to take with me on the journey home.

It's a good thing I knew the man was talking about the cakes left over from the lunchtime buffet because I'd only really ever heard those words when used to talk about a mistress in a derogatory fashion.

I find language and accents fascinating. In Yorkshire we have different words for things that change over a few miles, that are often very different to the rest of the country, which has led to some confusing conversations.

Like the time I wanted a sandwich made with the breadcakes I could see behind the counter in a bakery in Birmingham that they wouldn't let me have despite in Yorkshire that being normal procedure. They wanted me to have one of the sliced bread ones from the fridge behind me.

But I can now usually tell when a Scottish person is asking me 'where do I stay' when I'm in Scotland that they're not enquiring about the hotel I'm in while I'm visiting the area.

Mycatisthebestever · 05/09/2023 10:03

It's amazing how much I have picked up from his and also how many of the things I take as "normal" others don't understand 😂

BitOutOfPractice · 05/09/2023 10:47

@Mycatisthebestever i have lived away from “home” almost 40 years and still, almost every week I say something that gets me a puzzled expression!

it took me MANY years to work out that people outside the West Midlands say roundabout not island for a traffic feature you drive around. “Turn left at the island” means nothing to someone in the south east. Nobody told me though. Just didn’t understand me but we’re too polite to say!

AvocadotoastORahouse · 11/09/2023 22:36

@BarbaraofSeville

Ye huv a fancy piece wi yer fly cup!

Fly cup or just fly = morning tea or coffee, often when out with friends for a guid gossip!

I'm awa tae see Moira for my fly!

toadasoda · 11/09/2023 22:40

What do you call the things that sharpen your pencil? To me they were toppers, to my DH they were parers, my kids call them sharpeners. All in the same county.

And those things for tying up your hair? Bobbles to me and my kids but bobbins to my sisters kids in another county.

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