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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

‘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:
MistyGreenAndBlue · 08/03/2023 22:44

Throughout.

Arrocahar23 · 08/03/2023 22:45

MistyGreenAndBlue · 08/03/2023 22:44

Based on this thread alone I should say it's fairly obvious that most of these are common grammatical mistakes made by the poorly educated through the entire country.

Not regional dialects

Precisely.

IDontWantToBeAPie · 08/03/2023 22:51

@DashboardConfessional is thi-sen not from thy sen as in the Middle English thy for you? Very old Tyke though of my grandfathers era

toomanysausages · 08/03/2023 22:52

I see it on some of the pregnancy threads here too. I had assumed it was because people had come over from Netmums Blush

Arrocahar23 · 08/03/2023 22:53

iloveburmese3 · 08/03/2023 21:03

Equally as annoying when someone says 'I was sat with them at dinner...' no you weren't ' you were sitting with them at dinner'... drives me insane

Equally annoying is when someone says, “I was sat with them at dinner.” No, you weren’t. You were sitting with them at dinner… Drives me insane.

IDontWantToBeAPie · 08/03/2023 22:54

IDontWantToBeAPie · 08/03/2023 22:51

@DashboardConfessional is thi-sen not from thy sen as in the Middle English thy for you? Very old Tyke though of my grandfathers era

Or maybe thee not thy sorry

Annoyingwurringnoise · 08/03/2023 22:56

The most cringe one I ever saw was, regarding having been somewhere and found something out while there, ‘I never would have known if I hadn’t of went.’

RobertaFirmino · 08/03/2023 23:11

I can't stand 'off of' - as in 'It's my last day off of work' or 'I got it off of Sue'.

Also 'plenty', for example 'You're plenty old enough to know better'. I presume it is an Americanism, like the equally irritating 'switch up/swap out' which a PP mentioned earlier. Nothing against Americans but it makes me think that the speaker spends their days doing nothing but watching transatlantic sitcoms then blindly parrots what they have heard.

Something else that I find odd is 'bring' when it should be 'take'.

SarahAndQuack · 08/03/2023 23:22

Arrocahar23 · 08/03/2023 22:38

I just don’t understand this sort of response. The errors above are grammatical and making them suggests you are not terribly well educated.

In any case, if you know the correct part of speech you surely just use it automatically. You don’t take days off when you decide not to bother. 🙄

It doesn't suggest that, though. The sort of people who loudly announce their issues with other people's grammar tend to be people who are insecure about their level of education or their attainments in life. Usually (as is clear from this thread), it'll be people whose own written English is a bit dodgy.

SarahAndQuack · 08/03/2023 23:25

IDontWantToBeAPie · 08/03/2023 22:54

Or maybe thee not thy sorry

They're both acceptable variants on the same word in Middle English. You get lots of different spellings and in some dialects there's not much/any distinction between 'thee' (you; second person singular or familiar) and 'thy' (yours).

Isittimeformynapyet · 08/03/2023 23:26

PuddlesPityParty · 08/03/2023 18:47

Fgs get a life 😂 it’s called a colloquialism

No it isn't.

Thick people from all over the south of England say "we was".

I worked with a woman who spoke like this; "they was", "I done", "them fings", "can you borrow me a fiver", "I brought a new 'oodie'" and she really was as thick as pig shit. No common sense, observational or critical thinking skills whatsoever.

She's a good friend of mine now and I really love her, but those are the facts.

Jellybean23 · 08/03/2023 23:29

Most people would get it right if only grammar was explained to them.

I was sat/I was stood - means someone picked you up and placed you there.
I sat / I was sitting / I stood / I was standing - means you did it yourself.

SarahAndQuack · 08/03/2023 23:37

Jellybean23 · 08/03/2023 23:29

Most people would get it right if only grammar was explained to them.

I was sat/I was stood - means someone picked you up and placed you there.
I sat / I was sitting / I stood / I was standing - means you did it yourself.

You say this, but then you also said 'if only grammar was explained'. Was that deliberate?

ReadersD1gest · 08/03/2023 23:38

SarahAndQuack · 08/03/2023 23:22

It doesn't suggest that, though. The sort of people who loudly announce their issues with other people's grammar tend to be people who are insecure about their level of education or their attainments in life. Usually (as is clear from this thread), it'll be people whose own written English is a bit dodgy.

God, that's a bit of a reach 😂.

Finding 'I aren't', 'should of', 'You was', brought instead of bought, etc., a bit jarring doesn't indicate any issues or dissatisfaction with your attainment in life or education levels.
How weird...

Annoyingwurringnoise · 08/03/2023 23:44

You’d love the black country

Are was, yow was, er was, e was, we was, they was.

or

are wor, yow wor, er wor, e wor etc.

marn, yowun, er’n, is, their’n, ar’n.

Arm, yow am, er’s, e’s, them, we’m.

dow, wow, cor, wor, ay gunoo.

oh, and we love the word ‘fetch.’ ‘Are’ve fetched me some suck from up the shap.’ ‘Er’s fetched me over for tea.’

ReadersD1gest · 08/03/2023 23:46

Annoyingwurringnoise · 08/03/2023 23:44

You’d love the black country

Are was, yow was, er was, e was, we was, they was.

or

are wor, yow wor, er wor, e wor etc.

marn, yowun, er’n, is, their’n, ar’n.

Arm, yow am, er’s, e’s, them, we’m.

dow, wow, cor, wor, ay gunoo.

oh, and we love the word ‘fetch.’ ‘Are’ve fetched me some suck from up the shap.’ ‘Er’s fetched me over for tea.’

What does suck translate as?!

SarahAndQuack · 08/03/2023 23:55

ReadersD1gest · 08/03/2023 23:38

God, that's a bit of a reach 😂.

Finding 'I aren't', 'should of', 'You was', brought instead of bought, etc., a bit jarring doesn't indicate any issues or dissatisfaction with your attainment in life or education levels.
How weird...

Grin Erm, yes ... but this thread includes people who claim to be deeply disturbed by deviations from standard gramma and who also write things such as 'if I was'.

It is not weird to observe that people who don't have very good grammar are often also the most critical of others' mistakes.

Annoyingwurringnoise · 08/03/2023 23:56

Sweets. More specifically boiled sweets, but generally it just means sweets.

ReadersD1gest · 08/03/2023 23:56

Annoyingwurringnoise · 08/03/2023 23:56

Sweets. More specifically boiled sweets, but generally it just means sweets.

Ah!

SarahAndQuack · 09/03/2023 00:00

Annoyingwurringnoise · 08/03/2023 23:44

You’d love the black country

Are was, yow was, er was, e was, we was, they was.

or

are wor, yow wor, er wor, e wor etc.

marn, yowun, er’n, is, their’n, ar’n.

Arm, yow am, er’s, e’s, them, we’m.

dow, wow, cor, wor, ay gunoo.

oh, and we love the word ‘fetch.’ ‘Are’ve fetched me some suck from up the shap.’ ‘Er’s fetched me over for tea.’

This is gorgeous!

QueenCamilla · 09/03/2023 00:11

Should of brought some of them oranges for myself off of Asdas. Instead I got noone cause I borrowed all my money to my cousin . That will learn me. I aren't as stupid as I sound. 👍

JudgeJ · 09/03/2023 00:14

LadyMary50 · 08/03/2023 17:45

My pet hate is,”I borrowed my friend some money”.No you didn’t,you LENT your friend some money..

Borrow/lend, one of those things I loathe. At the chalkface pupils would come up and say Can I lend a ruler? Yes of course, to whom do you wish to lend it?
The alernative was Will you borrow me a ruler MIss?
An colleague when asked Can I have a ruler? would reply, Queen Victoria.

ItsShiela · 09/03/2023 00:18

It's pure uneducated ignorance. It doesn't even sound right when you say it. Don't they realise that?

It's also the same as I am sat. Whatever happened to the word sitting? Has that been erased from the dictionary? I want to reach through my computer and slap everyone who says "I am sat" or "I was sat". It is I am sitting or I was sitting. FFS what is wrong with you people? Learn to speak basic primary school level English. Gees, it's even basic reception level English.

JudgeJ · 09/03/2023 00:18

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.

SImilarly adding of, He jumped off of the diving board.

GettingStuffed · 09/03/2023 00:20

Gloriousgardener11 · 08/03/2023 18:58

'I was sat'
Instead of 'I was sitting'
This is used SO much these days I don't think people realise it's incorrect !

To me they have slightly different meanings. I was sat means you were getting until something (usually bad) happens whilst I was sitting with nothing.
happening .