tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post5441103342421630546..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: going places...going times?lynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-3331593890220204022017-02-03T02:24:08.088+00:002017-02-03T02:24:08.088+00:00"X months gone" is certainly understood ..."X months gone" is certainly understood in the US; Collins Dictionary lists it as 'American slang," btw. (In literature, see, for example, the Hemingway's 'A Farewell to Arms' (1929) and Welty's 'Petrified Man' (1939). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-81619448594185632712010-11-05T11:30:53.517+00:002010-11-05T11:30:53.517+00:00X months gone for pregnant, yes, definitely! I am ...X months gone for pregnant, yes, definitely! I am in New Zealand, my father was English, and my mother NZ born but of Scottish ancestry. Both of them used that term...<br />My ex used 'up the duff', but really it's quite vulgar...<br />I agree with Lauren, 'X months gone' is polite and delicate, like "with child"..Debbienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-53891133068652072572009-12-10T19:25:40.905+00:002009-12-10T19:25:40.905+00:00This reminds me a bit of the different tie-related...This reminds me a bit of the different tie-related terminology in Russian where the hour is often in the ordinal not the cardinal. When you ask "What time is it?" (literally "which hour is it?"), it would be perfectly find to answer "fifth" or "fifth hour" to mean that it's past four (though usually not by much, otherwise you'd just say "almost five" or something). By extension, you would say "a quarter of the fifth" (not one twentieth) to mean 4:15 (it works similarly with half and occasionally three quarters, as well as a number of minutes, such as "fifteen minutes of the fifth" where the word "minutes" is required and the word "hour" must be omitted). It is also acceptable to say "Four Fifteen" in the cardinal like in English, though that would imply more precision or that you looked it up on a digital clock. You would also say the equivalent of "quarter to/till five" in the cardinal.<br /><br />So, if you suddenly realized it was late, you wouldn't say "it's gone 4", but "fifth hour" (no need for any its or gones. Much more to the point really). But I miss the ability to say something like that in the US. Maybe I'll try to introduce the "gone" into my lexicon.Boris Zakharinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560756640621720539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-90061549008960513812009-06-17T09:48:00.911+01:002009-06-17T09:48:00.911+01:00As an American, I have never heard the word gone u...As an American, I have never heard the word gone used to refer to the time that has passed, even in the British television and movies I have seen. It sounds incomprehensibly strange and wrong to me, like it shouldn't make sense to anyone at all anywhere, regardless of how sensitive to the differences in dialects I am. It simply doesn't make any sense to me. Especially when referring to pregnancy. How does the word gone have anything to do with the passage of time? I would really like to know how this entered the language.<br /><br />How else is it used? Could someone in prison, for example, say something like "I've gone three years," to mean that they've served three years of their sentence thus far? Could "gone" simply mean "endure" (or some lighter version of that word) in BrE?ff6mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-234744154098952152008-10-31T07:14:00.000+00:002008-10-31T07:14:00.000+00:00"Five months along" I would understand as pregnant..."Five months along" I would understand as pregnant, with no other context, but with other context I would accept it as time elapsed since beginning a course of treatment or training. If someone told me his wife was "five months gone" I would think he was telling me she had died. I would be most likely to simply say "five months pregnant."<BR/><BR/>I don't know what "quarter of" means. I'd have to guess to know if it was quarter to or quarter after, or possibly quarter past the previous hour, such that 3:15 might be a quarter of four.Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-46210234970993350612008-10-10T17:44:00.000+01:002008-10-10T17:44:00.000+01:00"Up the duff" should always be used in conjunction..."Up the duff" should always be used in conjunction with "Dropped the sprog?" especially when in close proximity to elderly folk, for maximum effect.Segat1https://www.blogger.com/profile/15918487556625358900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-30723801715344629252008-09-24T18:46:00.000+01:002008-09-24T18:46:00.000+01:00I agree with Lauren, from my point of view it is m...I agree with Lauren, from my point of view it is more politeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-88695013250446786792008-09-21T12:32:00.000+01:002008-09-21T12:32:00.000+01:00For me (BRE), London-born...If I'm pleased it's go...For me (BRE), London-born...<BR/><BR/>If I'm pleased it's gone 5.00 and notice the time very soon after 5.00, then I would assume "is". As is "It is gone 5.00, we can start now!"<BR/><BR/>If I'm fed up at being delayed and there's small prospect of immediate progress, then I would assume "has", as in "it has gone 5, let's get a move on".<BR/><BR/>"It was gone 5" sounds fine as in, "it was gone 5.00 when we found the right address" (you couldn't get away with the contraction on this one).<BR/><BR/>"It had gone 5.00" is also acceptable as a slightly more elegant alternative to the "was" construction.Wordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07120147558061119469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-70392027553794284302008-09-20T08:33:00.000+01:002008-09-20T08:33:00.000+01:00Re: "and I'm rushing to respond to it before I hav...Re: "<I>and I'm rushing to respond to it before I have to shame myself by writing 'last autumn/fall'</I>", some of us are right now enjoying the twentieth day of Spring... :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-77576955461529025292008-09-18T18:15:00.000+01:002008-09-18T18:15:00.000+01:00Hello,I am a Canadian (inter alia) who grew up in ...Hello,<BR/><BR/>I am a Canadian (inter alia) who grew up in Canada speaking English. I have often heard the expression "X months gone" and it sounds negative to me, as does "X months along", somewhat as if it were an unpleasant journey. Both seem quite common to me, somewhat familiar, but not slang.<BR/><BR/>As for the temporal expressions "it's gone 6" or "he's gone 60", I have heard and read both but would not use them spontaneously (rather like "I reckon" which many Brits seem to use every other sentence, but which makes me feel alternatively like a cowboy in a film or an anglophile trying to fake Britishness).<BR/><BR/>I thank you for your blog, which I have just discovered and find very interesting, particularly from my Canadian vantage point. We are somewhat in the middle, or we used to be, but are becoming increasingly Americani(s/z)ed, mostly due to cable television. My grandmother said "chips" for instance, whereas most people now say French fries. By the way, I would love to see a geographic exploration of the terms used for sweet, non-alcoholic fizzy drinks. If you get the chance...Carolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04267168738889032308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-25226638826684339832008-09-18T12:58:00.000+01:002008-09-18T12:58:00.000+01:00For me (BrE):"it's gone 5" sounds OK, quite (i.e. ...For me (BrE):<BR/><BR/>"it's gone 5" sounds OK, quite (i.e. entirely) normal;<BR/><BR/>"it is gone 5" sounds strange, just about possible but perhaps pompous or affected;<BR/><BR/>"it has gone 5" sounds OK, and slightly emphatic compared to "it's";<BR/><BR/>"it was gone 5" sounds just about OK, but probably only in a literary context;<BR/><BR/>"it had gone 5" sounds OK.<BR/><BR/>On the speed use, I would never say "I'm going 60". I might say "I'm going <I>at</I> 60" or "I'm doing 60".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-68456786084887011052008-09-18T11:56:00.000+01:002008-09-18T11:56:00.000+01:00It's definitely "is"/"was" for me, in most cases. ...It's definitely "is"/"was" for me, in most cases. As people say, "has"/"had" has connotations of lateness. It's a question of emphasis. "It was gone five" is just a description of the time, whereas "It had gone five" puts emphasis on the time. Compare "He boarded the train at five o'clock" with "At five o'clock, he boarded the train".Ginger Yellowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06103410278129312943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-57945326598292307392008-09-17T23:55:00.000+01:002008-09-17T23:55:00.000+01:00(AmE) I use "doing 60" and "going 60" (mph, of cou...(AmE) I use "doing 60" and "going 60" (mph, of course) interchangeably.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-5314282866774449682008-09-17T20:51:00.000+01:002008-09-17T20:51:00.000+01:00Terry C--No, I wasn't saying people would say 'it ...Terry C--No, I wasn't saying people would say 'it went'. I was just explaining the differences between the structures. The fact that people _don't_ say 'it went' is support for Algeo's position that 'gone' in these cases is a preposition (which doesn't have other tenses) and not a verb (which should be able to occur in any tense).lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-75832418367433216162008-09-17T20:18:00.000+01:002008-09-17T20:18:00.000+01:00I'm BrE and if I had to choose I would say that th...I'm BrE and if I had to choose I would say that the 's in my idiolect is 'is' as in 'Hurry up, it is gone 9', which also probably why 'It was gone 4' sounds fine too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-57576682202244650302008-09-17T19:59:00.000+01:002008-09-17T19:59:00.000+01:00The past (as opposed to perfect) form of 'it had g...<I>The past (as opposed to perfect) form of 'it had gone 3 o'clock' is 'it went 3 o'clock', and the perfect form of 'it was gone 3 o'clock' is 'it had been gone 3 o'clock'.</I><BR/><BR/>Lynn, if you'r implying anybody in Britain would ever say "it went 3 o'clock" or "it had been gone 3 o'clock", all I can say is - not on my watch ...Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703548364118364764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-74680008173790953392008-09-17T13:48:00.000+01:002008-09-17T13:48:00.000+01:00@Cameron - I had a colleague who used this ('back ...@Cameron - I had a colleague who used this ('back of nine') at a very international conference, and I think the scientists spent the rest of the week dissecting what it might possibly mean. He refused to explain, partly I think because it kept his options open and could arrive any time between nine and ten ('back of nine' to me sounded like 'back end of nine' - ie, possibly almost ten) and partly because, like you, he thought it ws obvious (and mostly I think because it amused him).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-36565678359773577642008-09-17T11:22:00.000+01:002008-09-17T11:22:00.000+01:00Isn't the is/has confusion a result of the paralle...Isn't the is/has confusion a result of the parallel with past/passed?<BR/><BR/>It was past (after) four o'clock<BR/><BR/>It (the time) had passed midnight<BR/><BR/>Gone would be the less formal way of saying this, and there's only one way to spell it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-59729895380913243782008-09-17T04:52:00.000+01:002008-09-17T04:52:00.000+01:00Funny, even with two years of daily British dialec...Funny, even with two years of daily British dialect exposure, any usage of "gone" for times, other than "It's just gone N", where N is an hour, sounds odd to me. I always assumed 's was 'has', but the expanded version sounds weird either way, and the sentence sounds weird without the 'just' modifier. This fixed expression apparently traveled back with me because I still find myself occasionally saying "Oh, it's just gone five" when someone asks me what time it is. No one has ever asked me about it, strangely.<BR/><BR/>Now I'm going to be on the lookout for it during my trip.Alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15019989788721036349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-39804805491971804952008-09-16T23:41:00.000+01:002008-09-16T23:41:00.000+01:00BrE (north west), and to me the 's can be either i...BrE (north west), and to me the 's can be either is or has depending on context: with "to be" the meaning is fairly general and just stating a fact, whereas "to have" kind of implies lateness.<BR/><BR/>"It was just gone five when she called."<BR/><BR/>"It had gone five by the time my train turned up!"<BR/><BR/><BR/>"She's four months gone" meaning "four months pregnant" sounds fairly normal, although you would at least need to know the subject was pregnant to understand it. Another way to put it that I've heard more is "she's four months along" which would need no explanation to be understood to mean pregnant.<BR/><BR/><BR/>However, "With Batman a decade gone..." sounds to me like it's been over and done with for a decade.TheRamblingTranslatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03444261392859396543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-14287887777555852812008-09-16T22:32:00.000+01:002008-09-16T22:32:00.000+01:00Disgruntled, it never occurred to me (ScE) that "t...Disgruntled, it never occurred to me (ScE) that "the back of nine" would need any explanation, nor probably that it was even dialectal. As before a particular hour is in front of it, as in forenoon, so after the hour is at its back. So "the back of nine" is "just after nine."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-4580674669264798462008-09-16T21:24:00.000+01:002008-09-16T21:24:00.000+01:00I (BrE speaker) always feel as if the expression "...I (BrE speaker) always feel as if the expression "fell pregnant" sounds as if pregnancy were a slightly shameful accident. It was not, however, an expression commonly used in the South-East of England, where I grew up.<BR/><BR/>"Six months gone" on the other hand, sounds completely normal and free of perjorative bias to me. But I prbably wouldn't use it unless the pregnancy context was obvious.<BR/><BR/>This reminds me of an incident in Sheffield once, when I was suffering from a gyn(a)ecological complaint and bumped into someone I knew at the doctor's (BrE)surgery/(AmE) office. She asked what was wrong, and I said "women's problems" (can't think what made me use such an awful euphemism). She looked terribly shocked - it was only later that I discovered that in the local dialect I was implying I needed an abortion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-45602948595932730172008-09-16T20:17:00.000+01:002008-09-16T20:17:00.000+01:00For me (BrE)It was gone four o'clock by the time w...For me (BrE)<BR/>It was gone four o'clock by the time we left the restaurant so whatever the hell we were talking about it must have been good. (from 'Star Blog')<BR/>sounds just fine, with <I>it was gone 4</I> = <I>it was past 4</I>, while <I>it had gone 4</I> sounds distinctly odd, with transitive use of <I>go</I> of doubtful grammaticality --<I>the whole hog</I> can be <I>gone</I>, but not much else. Thus <I>it will be gone 4 (by the time we get there)</I> is also fine, but ??<I>it will have gone 4</I>.Max Wheelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08488671125464364189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-10881613899414530612008-09-16T19:05:00.000+01:002008-09-16T19:05:00.000+01:00Last try -- I day "doing sixty"! Acch. Remind me...Last try -- I day "doing sixty"! Acch. Remind me not to post anything before noon again. Ever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-11047999974710510422008-09-16T19:03:00.000+01:002008-09-16T19:03:00.000+01:00Oops -- meant to say I'd probably say I was "going...Oops -- meant to say I'd probably say I was "going sixty." It's too early here and I am antemeridionally challenged.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com