Re Britspeak

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 5/3/06, Jonathon Green <slang at abecedary.net> wrote:
>
> Herewith some material in the context of 'reckon', meaning to esteem or
> value (rather than 'to consider, to think, to suppose, to be of the
> opinion'). As will be seen, it is generally used in the negative, e.g.
> 'I don't reckon that lot.' Wright has it in the Eng. Dialect Dict. vol. V.
[snip cites]

And OED2 has, under sense 5d:

------
colloq. To rate highly, to esteem. Usu. in negative phrases.
1957 Evening News 12 Nov. 6/4 If..an East Ender wants to say that he
does not consider the character of another to be worth while he says
'I don't reckon him'.
1977 Sunday Times 52/3, I don't reckon the chances of Young Scientists
of the Year..against Just William.
------

Reminds me of the British usage of "rate" to mean 'to value highly',
which invariably puzzles Americans (as when Simon Cowell uses it on
"American Idol"). OED cites:

------
1973 Times 10 Feb. 7/7 You can never be sure of Brazil, of course, but
I don't rate the South Americans next time. I believe 1974 will be
dominated by the Europeans.
1973 New Society 12 Apr. 64/2 He would like to play cricket for
Surrey, but he doesn't rate his chances.
1976 E. DUNPHY Only a Game? iv. 104 He's a good honest pro, but
somehow Benny doesn't rate him.
1977 World of Cricket Monthly June 85/1, I must say we rated our
chances going up to Headingley.
------

With both "rate" and "reckon", a neutral term of valuation gets
reanalyzed in colloquial usage as a positive one. Perhaps the semantic
shift is modeled on the double sense of the verb "value".


--Ben Zimmer

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