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AIBU?

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Original poster

‘We was’

355 replies

StripeyNighty · 08/03/2023 17:09

Arghhh, is it just me noticing SO many people now saying/ typing ‘we was?!’

I’m on so many FB baby groups and I swear every person on there says ‘we was in the living room’ ‘we was scared’ etc. It absolutely drives me insane, why is is it so prevalent all of a sudden?

OP posts:
Middletoleft · 08/03/2023 17:56

It's the draw that irritates "in the draw" rather than drawer or is that just online?

Tidsleytiddy · 08/03/2023 17:56

It’s laziness isn’t it

WinterMusings · 08/03/2023 17:57

superplumb · 08/03/2023 17:33

Yes!! My mother in law speaks like this ( uneducated though) so does my husband ( grew up in Luton). Whenever he says this to my children I shout were not was.! Thankfully my children don't say it!
Oh, another one...that'll learn him..wtf. that'll teach him!

E@superplumb

that one makes me laugh! I always thought it was intended to be kind of ironic! Is it not??

CAJIE · 08/03/2023 17:58

Annoying habits are not the same as poor grammar.

Bintymcbintface · 08/03/2023 17:59

I hate it too, along with using brought rather than bought. It makes the tiny English teacher in my head want to rap some knuckles with rulers

butterfliedtwo · 08/03/2023 18:03

"This needs gone"

also needs to, well, go.

butterfliedtwo · 08/03/2023 18:03

Bintymcbintface · 08/03/2023 17:59

I hate it too, along with using brought rather than bought. It makes the tiny English teacher in my head want to rap some knuckles with rulers

Yes! I really hate that one.

AmelieTaylor · 08/03/2023 18:06

I have a friend (63, he grew up near heathrow) who says 'we was' & various similar things, I find it very difficult to remember not to say 'we were'. He also uses a lot of words completely incorrectly.

I just have to let it go or we'd never finish a conversation!

but he has the nerve to correct me if I say Eeeeso rather than EH-so 🤔🤦🏻‍♀️

Knitterofcrap · 08/03/2023 18:09

Makes me irrationally stabby.

Quent · 08/03/2023 18:11

I love the range of dialects across the UK - which most of these bugbears are examples of. Between autocorrect becoming ever more ubiquitous and thorough, and every person on Earth being constantly blasted by American English, I think the English language is becoming ever more standardised, rather than the opposite, and I think that's a shame.

theworldhas · 08/03/2023 18:14

Lots of these examples can sound fine/natural (or regional) when spoken, but look bad when written.

Moonicorn · 08/03/2023 18:15

YANBU. I think a lot of them know it’s not ‘correct’ but do it to ham up their ‘working class credentials’ and appear a little bit cutely thick. Anyway it’s really annoying.

Chooksnroses · 08/03/2023 18:17

My first husband credits me with his business success because of my (hated) nagging when we were young. He said "Imagine if I'd still been saying 'we was' when going into board rooms?"

theworldhas · 08/03/2023 18:18

@quent

Agree. It’s important that children learn correct/universally accepted English grammar (eg, I was, you were) and are able to produce that in written form (or occasionally spoken) as and when required for a formal task. But we shouldn’t be mandating that people all drop their regional dialects for spoken communication.

avocadotofu · 08/03/2023 18:22

I drives me bananas when I hear it too!

WhatWouldJeevesDo · 08/03/2023 18:23

I was
You was
He was

but

I weren’t
You weren’t
He weren’t

MarieInternette · 08/03/2023 18:24

I hate the insertion of “up” when it’s not needed eg switch up or change up. See it on Instagram all the time. “Change up your wardrobe” eh? Surely it’s just “change your wardrobe”. No other words required.

ReadersD1gest · 08/03/2023 18:25

WhatWouldJeevesDo · 08/03/2023 18:23

I was
You was
He was

but

I weren’t
You weren’t
He weren’t

Or (and I've seen it from several posters on here) - I aren't.

Redglitter · 08/03/2023 18:26

The one I can't stand is 'yous' that drives me nuts

Oh & wedding parties do not walk down isles 😡

nilsoften · 08/03/2023 18:29

I literally hate it, like. You know what I mean ?

LuluBlakey1 · 08/03/2023 18:32

The examples you give are dialect because of the area they come from where they have developed over centuries of usage and the sound of the regional accent. 'We was' said by so many today is just ignorance. The one that grates on me is 'I aksed'

LuluBlakey1 · 08/03/2023 18:33

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 08/03/2023 17:39

What part of the North do you mean?

I've lived here my whole life and never heard this from a local

Show quote history

No they don't, not a North-East thing at all.

LuluBlakey1 · 08/03/2023 18:35

LuluBlakey1 · 08/03/2023 18:32

The examples you give are dialect because of the area they come from where they have developed over centuries of usage and the sound of the regional accent. 'We was' said by so many today is just ignorance. The one that grates on me is 'I aksed'

Sorry, this was in response to @SarahAndQuack

Travelationjubilation · 08/03/2023 18:44

i can’t stand it, it’s awful. Just as I can’t stand “must of” it’s HAVE HAVE HAVE and myself, just awful

LakieLady · 08/03/2023 18:44

AuntieJoyce · 08/03/2023 17:19

Is it not an Essex thing? it’s the one thing I notice in speech when someone comes from that area.

never hear it up north

I think it's also a Croydon thing. I grew up in Croydon, and I don't say it, but some of my younger in-laws and their friends do.