Is this you?

[Laurence Horn]

Depends on what "this" is, I'd think.  For cars, it's pretty widespread, i.e. "Is this/that you?" meaning 'Is this/that your car?'  With a socket wrench and a Phillips head screwdriver at the hardware store, I'm not so sure.

LH

On Jan 28, 2014, at 8:14 PM, Michael Newman wrote:

> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org