need(s) V-ed

[Stephen Goranson]

Quoting "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>:

> a recent IdiotBOX cartoon by Matt Bors, "Lawn Order", has, in its
> first panel:
>
> If there is one thing *on the planet* that can cajole fat inert
> Americans out of their *TV* induced comas it's a lawn that needs mowed.
>
> ----
>
> and where, you ask, does Matt Bors come from?  Canton., Ohio,
> apparently.  ah...

In my experience in construction work (late '70s, early '80s, VA), "needs
drywalled," "needs plumbed," "needs painted," "needs framed," and the
like were
fairly common in speech (perhaps less so in writing).

Stephen Goranson

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