About use of "done". 10 year old DS thinks I am a loon

[redskyatnight]

So. I can just about cope with the use of "epic" and "awesome" every other word (though I have told DS the correct meaning of both and suggested he may wish to consider using them in their original sense in his writing.).

But AIBU to be so cross at the grammatically incorrect use of "done" as in

"Today at school, we done science"
"I done my homework already".

I have pointed out to DS that it is "did" or "have done" or possibly even "finished", "completed" or "carried out" or a variety of other synonyms depending on the context. He sighs. Possibly because I point this out EVERY time he done* it which makes for somewhat stilted conversation.

He says that "everyone" else uses "done" in his way (and thinks I am a loon although thankfully it seems I have done something right and he realises this would not be a good thing to actually say to me).

So AIBU?

• deliberate incorrect use before 25353787879 people point this out

oh that's awful your !

I like language. I like the way that it changes and evolves like it's a living thing. I like the fact that you can change the way you communicate just a little, and have an entirely new persona. I like the fact that we can use different forms of communication for different audiences. I like the fact that a simple phrase can transport you to a different time and place.

When I was young, My Nan used to dislike our liberal use of the term 'dead'. It's dead good. It was dead embarrassing. When we moved from Yorkshire to Sussex, 'dead' fell away and was replaced with 'well'. It was well wicked!

Some phrases seem timeless. DS told DD that he'd tell the teacher and she'd 'get done'. We used to 'get done' which would cover anything from lines at breaktime to a mild telling off. I know exactly what he meant, but the actual phrase is pretty meaningless.

Anyhow, my point is that language is wonderful and flexible, and the vast majority of people learn when formal language is necessary, and when it's not. I'm not saying don't correct him if it annoys you (though I suspect that will just spur him on), but it's a childhood phrase. It'll pass.

OP Just wait until he tells you that that is what Grandma says and you want to throttle DM or MIL or possibly both!

We get 'sick' or 'sickage' all the bloody time. DS does say did rather than done BUT he has a very broad North Lancashire accent and every other action is prefaced with T'. As in "going t'toilet" or "going t'shop". A habit I have to say that me and DH don't have, even though we were all raised in the same place.
Otherwise he's not too bad..

My own bloody mother says was instead of were. So they was walking along the road etc.
Stupid bloody woman, and she even says it in front of my dc's.

We get 'I done it' all the time from DS aged 4 and it drives me potty! He doesn't really understand when we correct him with 'I did it' etc but after a lot of insistence is starting to get that he needs to say it differently at home to at nursery.

We live in an area of the UK where the local dialect is I/we done instead of did and 'we was' instead of 'we were' so it's going to be an ongoing battle I can see!

OP does he use "goes" instead of "says" and "went" instead "said"?

Then of course there is I'm like for I said - ugh!

Yanbu. I thank my pedantic father now for having taught me to speak properly!

I got to/I done it is lazy dropping of the auxiliary have, which is silly because it's shortened anyway to I've got to/I've done it. I did it isn't quite right because they're talking about something in the general past, where it doesn't matter when it happened, only that it did happen (or not).

"Do your homework!" "I've done it!" = correct

"Do your homework!" "I did it last night!" = also correct.

"Do your homework!" "I did it!" = doesn't really go.

You could also say "I've done it already" or "I did it at school"

We normally use "I did it" (which is the simple past tense) when we're telling a story or recounting something that happened in the past, when the verb is related to a particular time or event (last night/at school) or immediately after the event. (For this example, usually in surprise. "I did it!!")

Using done in this way seems to be very common in a large town near me where I went to school. Drives me mad! People also use went in a similar fashion eg. 'I went McDonald's today' missing out to seems to be considered normal

Round here you get 'I went cinemas'. Just don't start me.

And also, just realised that I don't really like 'done' as an option- it's on my phone waiting for me to compete this post. I'd rather it said 'finished', or 'complete'. 'Done' suggests that it's cooked.

Or you could totally flummox him by pointing out that "done" is a past participle and requires an auxiliary

It's not taught in schools so chances are he'll think you're talking a foreign language!

Do you really say "The housework is complete!" though? I suspect you use done more than you think. We use do all the time and it's only the past tense (well, past participle ) of that. You probably say "Oh thank god that's done!"

Citrusy

Yes, that's one that mine have started to use

"Are you goin' park?"
"I went Westfields"

Aaarg

When I was a child in the mid 70's my best friend at school said frequently 'my mum learned me how to .....' I would correct her with 'you mean your mum taught you?' it irritated me My DGM was a language pedant and she taught me well!

Oh, and when one of the lads at work exclaimed 'that's well sick!' I asked if he needed a bucket if he was unwell!

In the line for school the other day one of the other children said to DS2 and his best friend something beginning 'you was'. DS2's best friend looked disgusted and said 'you was? That doesn't even make sense'. They're in reception.

I suspect dS2's best friend has his grammar corrected at home quite a lot.

I'd disown her if she were mine. Does she say "sat there" and "stood there"? If she does the relationship is irretrievable.

Surely, the chance to be utterly pedantic is one of the main reasons for becoming a parent? I have been assuming so and looking forward to the idea.
You'll be a great parent. And just remember "stop doing that Mum, it's so embarrassing" is the most redundant sentence ever created.

DSS is a big fan of "done". On the other hand, he is also a big fan of asking me for help with grammar and English, so I don't mind quite so much.

DSD overuses "like" and "basically".

Her: It was, like, a red car.
Me: How was it like a red car? Was it actually a blue car?
Her: flounce you know what I mean.

Basically is similar. Everything is "basically" this or that.

I agree with LRD

Keep it up, OP - children that grow up surrounded by people who rage about bad grammar become like them in the end, IME

Recently DD (14) posted on Twitter that she gets the rage when people say 'should of'.

I'm not a fan of 'sat', as in: 'I was sat, waiting for a bus' or 'I've been sat here waiting for you for ages'

Did a giant pick you up and put you at the bus stop? Did the giant put you on the sofa?

"I done science" etc bothers me too. DS is always corrected for it- along with writ and various other statements. Really, DS, if you want to be ungrammatical don't do it in front of a mother who spent years studying the English language!

There is a local gem: "can I go for a toilet?" Which winds me up hugely. The children at school use it, DS has picked it up from his school friends (not at my school). I always correct it-pedantic and proud.