'Was stood'

[9622a]

Reading news reports of the terrible events in Liverpool, I can't help but notice multiple uses of, 'was stood', instead of 'was standing'.

This isn't the average member of the public, in shock, being quoted. It's BBC journalists explaining Steve Rotherham was in the vicinity, or they saw things for themselves on the scene.

It's their job to report correctly and yet they don't routinely write accurately.

It's just everywhere. BBC as noted, newspapers, Mumsnet.

My DD has a theory people have learned it like a little phrase of its own from hearing it so often - e.g. you often hear it shoehorned in to a phrase which doesn't need it, 'he was STOOD over there,' where 'he was over there' would do just as well, or even, perish the thought, ''he was standing over there'.

I saw a clip yesterday where the guy said 'it was just sat sitting there all day'. As if he had to get that sat in there SOMEwhere! It was sat sitting! arrrgh!

@ApplesinmyPocket What's wrong with saying
''he was standing over there'.

Oops now that I read your post again, I think you are saying that it IS correct and if only people would use it!

You do realise that there are vast swathes of the kingdom where this is the normal everyday speech.
Are you going to tell all those millions of people that they are incorrect simply because they have not been brought up where or how you were with southern British English.
And by implication dis their parents and cultural heritage.
This reminds me of the arrogant assertions concerning letter Haitch.

Standard English isn't about geographical region.

I certainly wasn't brought up in the south and, as mentioned, this isn't about criticising dialect use in everyday speech, but discussing expectations in professional writing.

The BBC style guide officially states that standard English should be used for clarity.

It would be helpful if they adhered to all conventions.

Could it be correct in the case of police officers though? "Police officers were stood at the entrance..." would make sense in the context of being positioned there by senior officers, in the same way a child might be sat on the chair.

It's not standard English, but it might become so if enough people adopt this usage. So far it seems only to be a feature of some forms of British English, but I agree with others that it is spreading into mainstream media in the UK.

I'm American so I only hear or read it when I am consuming British media or reading Mumsnet. The oddest construction to my American ears is "She was sat on her phone."

Ugh. I agree with you, OP.

It's pretty common, has been forever, the change is that TV is no longer as strict as it was, which IMO is fine.

@ItsFineReally . No. Still wrong, whether or not police offices are mentioned.

The officers stood , or the officers were standing. Not the officers were stood.

@RitaIncognita . You are right I have never heard an American commit this teeth- grinding blunder. Plenty of others, but not this one.

Ah, well in that case they deserve a dressing down from their editor. They won't get one though.

My understanding is that the reason "I was stood" is incorrect is because it implies an action done to you. My question was therefore when this could be considered the case. e.g. "After I was handcuffed and blindfolded, I was stood on the platform [by the kidnappers]". I assume this would be valid? If so, can it only be used literally and never figuratively? So if you are dictating people move into particular locations then is that also a valid usage? In which case, my original query could still make sense.

In your example I suppose it would be correct although clumsy to say something like ' after I was bound and gagged , the kidnappers stood me on a platfform. ' Not I was stood. subject and object you see?

If you wanted to increase the impact by using the first person, you could say ...after I was bound and gagged I was forced to stand....

It's everywhere: newspapers, television, radio, and seemingly, every modern book I read.

It is becoming mainstream, unfortunately.