Wiggle Room?

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>That area of the country also inserts an 'r' sound in 'wash,' but also makes a
>verb construction 'needs + [pret]' where I might use 'needs + [inf].'
>Example: I would say 'The car needs to be washed,' but there I heard 'The car
>needs washed.'
>
>Anyone have an explanation of this use of verbs? A holdover from Germanic
>constructions? (As in "Throw the horse over the fence some hay.")

This Pittsburghism may be a Scotticism. At least the same thing occurs in
Scots, as shown in SND under "need" (v., n.1, I.4) [e.g., from 1923, "This
lock needs sortit."]

Compare, e.g., "redd up" = "tidy up", "rift" = "belch", "slippy" =
"slippery", "ignorant" = "ill-mannered", apparently Scotticisms and
Pittsburghisms (not necessarily with absolute exclusivity).

-- Doug Wilson


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