Is this you?

[Michael Newman]

Is the expression “this is me” meaning “this is mine” (etc. for you, etc)  limited to NYC and environs?

I’ve been hearing it for a while, and my husband asked me if it’s an NYC thing. I just heard it in the following exchange, and thought I’d better ask before putting it in my NYC English book, which I’m sending off again as soon as I get this issue settled yea yea.

Setting Hardware store with a bunch of products on the counter.

Store guy to me: “Is this you?”
Me: Nah
Other customer: “This is me.”
Store guy: “OK”



Michael Newman
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders
Queens College/CUNY

mnewman at qc.cuny.edu

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