jibe/jive, needs washed

Patti Kurtz pkurtz at HEIDELBERG.EDU
Thu Jan 23 23:40:54 UTC 2003


Hey all-- I usually just read the messages on this list, but the thread of
"needs washed" drew my attention.

This is typical in my dialect-- I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA.  I say that all the
time-- "The car needs washed, the clothes need ironed."  I'm also always being
corrected by people from "more correct" dialects and I recently overheard one of
our English profs correcting a student's use of that (I teach in NW Ohio)

So I'd say it's at least a western PA/eastern Ohio dialect feature.  It may
spread wider than that, but it doesn't go further east, because I know people
from eastern PA who just think it's plain wrong.





--
Patti J. Kurtz
Assistant Professor, English
Heidelberg College
Tiffin, Ohio



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