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?

Btw should've clarified that I'm not slagging off OP who has started an interesting thread with a curious tone which is a wonderful exception.

I did open the thread thinking "oh! An interesting language thread that's not been started with the premise of "Chester draws/should of" mwahaha look at the thicko""

But our work might be cut out for us.

(Thank you btw for the interesting Irish-English comparison- I'm doing beginner's Irish on Duolingo 😂 but it'll be some years before I manage to say a word I expect!)

Acceotable spelling if you're under the age of 5😂

Brought is also correct in Ireland though. Bring and take are used differently here. I think sometimes there's an assumption that people are making mistakes, when actually they're just using a different form of English as their standard.

Regional pronunciation is one thing but surely not an acceptable spelling, maybe they're being jokey, as in 'norty'?

Yeah I would associate 'wee' as Northern Ireland but I think it's also common in the Irish border counties. I've definitely heard it from people from Donegal. I think its lovely.

and "t'internet"

Welsh and South West.

I love mumsnet. I learned about comparative adjectives from the housekeeping board, where someone asked about a recommendation for a tumble drier and a very helpful poster went to great lengths to point out it was a dryer and provided the rules.

"Lush" is interesting. My nieces who grew up in Wales use it-so that does tie in with SW, I suppose.

Fabulous. I never knew that.

Sorry, posted before reading far enough to see your posts @TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon and @JenniferBarkley. You had it covered😊

No they were insisting it was an accepted regional thing. Similar to when a poster complained that everyone called her son Fear-door (Theodore) and posters were responding "but that is the way it's pronounced?".

My Fil, who was from Tipperary used "grand" in so many ways. Including in accepting an apology "I'm so sorry I'm late!" "Ah, your're grand." I do miss him.

Thank you @JenniferBarkley for the bring/take explanation! German uses 'bringen' in a very similar way - 'nehmen' (take) is only for taking something from someone/thing else or with a prefix for taking something along with you/away from somewhere ('mitnehmen', to take with - so you'll have a sentence like 'Ich bringe mein Kind in die Schule and nehme das Baby mit' - I'm taking my child to school and taking the baby with me').

The non-rhotic speakers are obvious on here - when they say, for example, that they pronounce 'bath' as' barth' (as opposed to typing something like 'baaahth') or contend that 'giraffe' does indeed rhyme with 'scarf' and Julia Donaldson was perfectly right, thank you. (I say this as a 'Standard' (ha) Southern English and as such non-rhotic speaker).

Other Irishisms (or what I think are Irishisms) I spot on occasion, aside from the ones already mentioned, are 'give out to someone' and asking what age someone is as opposed to how old they are.

At the end of sentences:

So
Grand so.

Interested in the origins of the use of these words in the Irish context.

I'll go and get the car, so.

Tea or coffee? Tea? Grand, so.

If someone asks “what age are you?” I assume they’re Irish. As an English person, I’d say “how old are you?”

I never knew this was an Irish thing.

I always say 'what age are you?' Rather than how old. Never realised it was an Irishism! 😎

Me neither, I'm never sure which it is. Maybe I'll remember this time (doubtful).

Ah, that's interesting - I assumed it was Irish because I've heard it from Irish people and never from speakers of other Englishes.

Supposed to be not , it's really interesting

No, they are NOT! I'm definitely not Scottish and grew up using it in Norn Iron. And I don't know any Scottish people who use it.

Northern Irish, but live in the Highlands. 🤷‍♂️

Just a slight adjustment to what you’re rightly saying there @JenniferBarkley

It’s not all English people with the corrections. It’s people from SE England. They love to correct us English plebs from the provinces too.

I used to live with some Irish girls and always thought that Irish expressions make conversation so much easier. ‘So’ being one of them. It beautifully ties up a sentence without the need for any faffing around.