To hate it when people miss out the word 'to'

[fiveacres]

DS has picked it up.

'Hey, Mum, I want to go Florida!'
'you want to go TO Florida!'
'Yeah, that's what I said. I want to go Florida and -'

Argh.

I noticed this when I was teaching and it drove me crazy then - 'Can I go toilet?'

Grrrrrrr.

So am I being ridiculously anal or does anyone else loathe this? I also can't stand 'etc etc' which seems to be another thing DS is bringing home from school.

[RebeccaCloud9]

Yeah Bung, I would think of those from Yorkshire saying 'I want to go t'Florida' rather than no 'to' at all.

[SenecaFalls]

It's definitely not American.

[TheEmpressofBlandings]

Move to Bristol, they liberally add 'to' to lots of sentences.
'Where's that to then?'

[Jollyphonics]

I live in the East Midlands and it's normal for locals to omit "to".

My DC haven't started doing it yet, and I'm not sure how I'll feel if/when they do. But one thing I have clamped down on with absolute determination is the pronunciation of the letter H. When it comes to the language my kids pick up, so far "haitch" is the only thing I really can't stand.

[VenusVanDamme]

I've never heard this (Scotland) but Redhead I think the 'how' as 'why' goes further north than the borders as everyone I know does it 'How come' can also replace why!

[PlummyBrummy]

I get where you are coming from but people omit the correct 'to's all the time. For example (grammar pedant klaxon sounding) you should really 'telephone to' someone/where but that to has been dropped for convenience.

[Minifingers9]

South London - I hear this from dd all the time. "I'm going high street". Also 'innit', and 'isn't it' used like this: "Jayden got Nikes isn't it".

[usualsuspect333]

I live in the East Midlands and I'm one of those terrible locals who miss out to.

I have to really concentrate when I'm typing on here or there wouldn't be a to in any of my posts

[ProvisionallyAnxious]

My DH is American. He doesn't do what you describe, OP, but he does miss out "to be" - so, instead of, the dishes need to be washed up, he says the dishes need washed.

The annoying thing is I find myself doing it now!!

[ProvisionallyAnxious]

That said - could the apparent absence of "to" be an accent thing? I grew up with a region also accent that had a fairly careless approach to pronouncing the letter "t", so in a rush I might SAY " to", as far as I'm concerned, but in such a way that it seems to have vanished as far as the ears of others are concerned.

[eurochick]

It's not an accent thing the accent hasn't changed since I grew up in this region and managed to say the word "to". It's an affectation.

[Snowberry86]

East Midlands here and guilty of losing the odd to!

I never noticed I was doing it until I loved county's and got pulled up on it by a friend at work!

If I'm talking about going to a place I always include to... "I'm going to town", "I want to go to London" etc

I usually miss it it out in sentences like- "pass it me please", or "email it me".

[AliceLidl]

I have one friend who does this.

She leaves out the 'to' and also says things like 'needs gone', 'needs done' and (the worst one) 'wants finished'. She says it in sentences like "I've got some washing up that wants finished" and I've never heard anybody else say that before.

And I am in Yorkshire, but she's from everywhere, her family moved around the country a lot as she grew up.

[DuchessDisaster]

You can also add the inability to differentiate between to bring and to take as well as the incorrect use of participles.
I know a lot of people will say that the English language is evolving, accelerated by modern media, but I think there is a world of difference between adopting neologisms, in a conscious way, and using incorrect language because you don't actually know what is right.

[bythewindsailors]

The empress: I am from the south west (quite nr Bristol) and add superfluous to's into my sentences eg: where are my car keys to?

We had teachers try to encourage children to speak properly, but they soon gave up: with so many colloquialisms it was impossible!

[Mellifera]

I hear it all the time and cringe (South London)

[FujimotosElixir]

its called glottal stop, as a Yorkshire lass its igrained this way of speaking

[iWantToBeAlone]

I'm from east London and it's very common there. I think it is partly a sloppiness thing.

[EastMidsMummy]

Can you explain "where are my car keys to"? What does the to signify? Would you ever just say "where are my car keys"? If so, when?

[LittleLostRoeDeer]

I say this and I'm from the West Midlands. It drives my DP insane! I would never use it in written English though; and, as an English teacher, I would also make an effort not to say it in the classroom.

[RunningJumpingClimbingTrees]

Never heard this and in Scotland too. The why and how thing annoys me but that is definitely regional up here (didn't hear it at all when I lived in the north east (lots of other colloquialisms up there mind) but now I live back in Edinburgh hear it constantly.

Obviously I might be wrong...I am no authority on a whole country

[Theycallmemellowjello]

This a thing in London, I hear this all the time. Maybe other parts of the country as well, but definitely not Yorkshire as pp have said. I find it quite sweet. As long as the kid grows up knowing it's a dialect thing and doesn't use it in formal writing etc I don't see the harm.

[NorahBone]

In the south west here and its definitely not a youth thing. My grandmother used to "go toilet". Also the "where's that to" that TheEmpress mentioned is common across the area.