Signage on a store’s stock cart. Like a couple three and pop (for soda), “need + past participle” is a familiar element in downstate-Illinois speech. And it’s the one of those three that I like. (Omit needless words and all that.)
A related post
Illinoism
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Need worked
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comments: 7
Locals in Champaign say "need + p.p." too ("those tables need waited on"). Apparently, this construction came west from Western Pennsylvania (so you hear it in central Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, as well as in the Ohio valley. Here is a link to a paper that is not free: (www.jstor.org/stable/455549).
Just now saw your post "Illinoism"
Thanks, Normann. I thought you’d like this post. I look forward to reading the article.
BTW, I heartily recommend David Hackett Fisher's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. Reading it is a source of countless "aha!" moments, in that North America was not initially colonized by a cross-section of the British population, but colonists skewed to four specific regions. For example, the cultural differences between these four original groups are reflected in the current "red state/blue state" divide. DHF also touches on linguistic peculiarities, which is why I thought of it.
Thanks, Norman. Any recommendation from you carries significant weight. :)
I married a Central Pennsylvania Yankee, and the 'needs + p.p.' bit still crops up, though 31 years of 'Needs TO BE' responses have made a dent. Why is it that husbands always need fixed?
My wife might be able to answer that question.
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