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

[Theystoleourrecipe]

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?

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.

Both brought and took are correct. Hiberno English (i.e. the dialect spoken in Ireland) uses bring and take differently to three usage in England. I admit I can never remember how as the Irish way just feels natural to me. The Irish usage is a direct translation from Irish, there's a Wikipedia page that describes it.

As per a pp I never notice brought and bought being mixed up in Ireland, I suspect that's more common in areas with non rhotic accents although I don't know.

To answer OP, yes I often notice Irish or Scottish phrases. Other phrases might not be familiar to me but I wouldn't be familiar enough with GB to pinpoint the location. Always interesting to learn new colloquialisms though .

They aren't equivalent, they have specific differences depending on where the person who's speaking is and what they are saying

Yes there's a few obvious Irish things like saying "I'm after taking the chicken out of the fridge" or "he hurt himself but he's grand now" that I would immediately hear in my Mammy's voice and assume the poster was Irish.

But using "wee" as a descriptor for small I would think Scottish or Irish.

DP's family are full on Doric so there's the odd phrase I'd read and assume far north of Scotland.

I can sometimes if English is not their first language, but not otherwise.

I also know if someone is English if they are talking about rhymes. Eg

Would you pronounce 'Layla' as if it rhymes with Taylor or tiler?

@Theystoleourrecipe I spent time in Ireland many years ago and you have just reminded me of that! "Awk sure" was used in response to someone voicing something perceived to be negative, with an assuring/sympathetic intent.

Person one:"She borrowed £100 from me and never paid it back".
Person 2: "Awk sure"

Also giving out rather than giving off as in reprimanding someone.

Calm down she was only answering a question that was asked. No need for your patronising 'shall we try' nonsense.

When people say they're earning 100 grand and they can't cope financially then I know they're from London.

Alright, feck sake () if we're going to debate it here's the wiki link and the extract: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-English

Bring and take: Irish use of these words differs from that of British English because it follows the Irish grammar for beir and tóg. English usage is determined by direction; a person determines Irish usage. So, in English, one takes "from here to there", and brings it "to here from there". In Irish, a person takes only when accepting a transfer of possession of the object from someone else – and a person brings at all other times, irrespective of direction (to or from).

Don't forget to bring your umbrella with you when you leave.
(To a child) Hold my hand: I don't want someone to take you.

Not wrong, just different (a mantra worth living by on this thread and so many others).

I would definitely assume a poster is not Irish (probably Englsh) when they use words like poorly and pudding. I would never use these words in conversation.
I never heard the word outwith that's a new one for me!

No, it’s not, as the words have different meanings.

And I would always say I brought the kids to school this morning.

It's not brought for bought ! Its instead of "I took the kids to the beach".

@JenniferBarkley

Morning 😂

Thanks for that @JenniferBarkley . Hopefully now we won't have any other posts about the wrong usage!

I don't know a lot of Irish but do know that the way we speak English is influenced by Irish. For example the phrase 'He does be' meaning 'he is'. He does be very moody if he doesn't get enough sleep.

I love it when I see “outwith” because you always know it’s a Scottish poster.

I also like a mardy.

I think that ship's already sailed. As ever. 😂

Fancy seeing you here

Nah, she's right to be annoyed.

These threads occur weekly, and always involve people (typically English) slagging off perfectly correct standard Irish or Scottish language. Many of us are hyper aware of it now and have no truck with posters correcting language that isn't incorrect.

I love this.

Me too! Funny I never thought of it as a colloquial thing. I'm wondering when 'brought' would be used if not in this context?

Not unless it's something that stands out, like If I see 'aye' or 'wee' I think Scottish.
'Lush' I think south west.

I follow someone on Facebook who frequently visits "hospickle". I remember posting about it and a few irrate posters claimed it's a very regional Mancunian pronunciation and accepted spelling of hospital!

I think "wee" is used by many who are not Scottish and lush is Welsh 😂