# "Back of" vs "in back of": regional variation? Old-fashioned vs new? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 4, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752 "2025-09-04T16:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752/1 "2025-09-04T16:52:56Z")
I remember quite clearly in elementary school (60+ years ago) reading a story in which someone said something like, “the garage was back of the house.” I was outraged and appalled as only a small kid can be, because I _knew_ that the correct expression was “in back of,” not “back of.” That was just _wrong._ Now, at age 70, most of that furor has subsided, and I realize that different people have different ways of putting things. I was most recently reminded of this because in the Nero Wolfe books, Archie often talks about things being “back of” other things. But I’m wondering if there is any pattern to each of the expressions. It somehow feels to me that “back of” is not only a more old-fashioned form, but also perhaps more rural or mid-western, and that “in back of” is more urban and/or more East Coast. But maybe that’s just my prejudice from having been brought up in suburban Maryland. Does anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752/2 "2025-09-04T17:33:15Z")
Another former suburban Marylander here! _The garage is in back of the house_ definitely sounds less slangy to me than _the garage is back of the house_—that seems like something I’d hear in West Virginia when I visited relatives there as a kid. (But honestly, _in back of_ sounds kind of slangy to me too. My parents raised us–for good or ill–to avoid regionalisms and slang, insofar as possible, so I personally would say _the garage is behind the house.)_ ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752/3 "2025-09-04T17:56:46Z")
I can’t figure out how to link to it, but the Google n-gram results for “is in back of”, “is in the back of” and “is back of” show that the last of these was by far the most popular from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, peaking about 1920. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752/4 "2025-09-04T18:36:48Z")
British English would certainly favour “behind” or possibly “out back”. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752/5 "2025-09-04T18:43:36Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > British English would certainly favour “behind” Also saves words, as you don’t need to say “in behind of” (and probably shouldn’t anyway). Reminds me of a Goon Show gag, I think it’s in “Forog" where Neddy is trying to get home to Brixton in the fog, and says “Do I feel a hot engine ahint of me (aside to audience: we’re not allowed to say “behind”). I say, it’s a bus! Ahoy, driver, why are you following me so closely?” “You’ve got your braces around the radiator.” Thanks, I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your moderators. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2025, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752/6 "2025-09-06T02:47:46Z")
To my ear, both sound weird. I didn’t even realize it meant “behind.” I was thinking it meant “in the back of the house,” that is, inside the house but towards the back end. I would also just use “behind” for something outside the house. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2025, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-of-vs-in-back-of-regional-variation-old-fashioned-vs-new/1022752/7 "2025-09-07T11:56:39Z")
Neither “back of” nor “in back of” is a valid prepositional phrase in my dialect of English (Ireland). “Behind” or “at the back of” would be fine.