# English dialect question: Does the verb 'to walk' have a narrower meaning in some places? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821 "2014-04-24T00:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/1 "2014-04-24T00:25:24Z")
As I’ve understood and used the term, _to walk_ means to propel oneself forward on foot in such a way that either foot is touching the ground at all times, and includes narrower terms like _stroll_, _stride_, _saunter_, _plod_, _race-walking_ The key point is that one foot’s always touching the ground, because otherwise you’d be running, hopping, skipping, or whatever. So I have this German crossword puzzle app on my phone, and I come to the following clue: _Schnelles, intensives Gehen_ (Eng), roughly translatable as “fast and intensive walking” (English). The desired answer in the crossword turns out to be “walking”, although from the clue it sounds more like race walking. So I have to ask if any other native speakers of English are familiar with this narrower usage of the word. Oddly enough, when I studied German in high school I was taught that _gehen_ = “to walk”; but when I actually traveled over there and spent some time I found that my fellow students generally used the word _laufen_ instead. _Laufen_ normally means “to run” and in certain contexts was used to mean exactly that. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/2 "2014-04-24T00:26:39Z")
And I know what I just did there, but all the same I really do want to know… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/3 "2014-04-24T01:17:25Z")
I believe “gehen” is like Spanish “andar”: it resides in a semantic space between the English words “go” and “walk.” In Spanish, if you definitively want to emphasize the “walkiness,” you use a different verb (“caminar”), but if you just want to say “go” in general, you use yet a third verb (“ir”). There really isn’t an English verb that occupies the same semantic range as gehen/andar. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/4 "2014-04-24T06:37:22Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > … > So I have this German crossword puzzle app on my phone, and I come to the following clue: > > _Schnelles, intensives Gehen_ (Eng), roughly translatable as “fast and intensive walking” (English). > > The desired answer in the crossword turns out to be “walking”, although from the clue it sounds more like race walking. So I have to ask if any other native speakers of English are familiar with this narrower usage of the word. > … You’ll need to conceptualize _Walking_ not as an English but as a German verb in this meaning (pronounced as in English but inflected as a German verb - indicative present: _Ich walke, du walkst, er/sie walkt, wir walken, ihr walkt, sie walken_). _Walking_ is widely understood in Germany as fast, energetic walking for purposes of exercise, often in the specific form of _Nordic Walking_ where you add propulsion by two special poles to also exercise the arms. It is recommended for and practiced by those who are not (yet) fit enough or who carry too much weight to take up running. You’ll see a lot of ladies of a certain age in parks and forests, often with a friend and sometimes in packs or shoals, doing this as their exercise program. The difference in meaning to the English verb ‘walking’ is understood. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/5 "2014-04-24T07:25:52Z")
The sport version is just called “walking” or “the walk” here, not “race-walking” (which sounds like something NYPD cops do when they’re profiling on foot.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/6 "2014-04-24T07:29:53Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I believe “gehen” is like Spanish “andar”: it resides in a semantic space between the English words “go” and “walk.” In Spanish, if you definitively want to emphasize the “walkiness,” you use a different verb (“caminar”), but if you just want to say “go” in general, you use yet a third verb (“ir”). There really isn’t an English verb that occupies the same semantic range as gehen/andar. I think in Old English, it would have been _gang_ (as in _gangway_) - which is obviously related to _gehen_ anyway. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/7 "2014-04-24T10:10:39Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think in Old English, it would have been _gang_ (as in _gangway_) - which is obviously related to _gehen_ anyway. Interesting. I’m sure you’re right. Both are cognates of Modern English “go,” right? Which implies there was a more general word for “go” at some point in Old English (perhaps a cognate of German “fahren”? We still say “fare thee well”…). ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/8 "2014-04-24T10:24:36Z")
You might still say “fare thee well” in Kansas, but certainly not over here. Even “farewell” is not in common use outside of poetry. The most likely place to find ‘fare’ (apart from bus fare etc, and rarely as bill of fare) is in ‘welfare’ which originally was related to happiness, good fortune or prosperity, and has now become a substitute for ‘charity’ which fell out of favour. They probably all come from the original German ‘fahren’. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/9 "2014-04-24T11:11:16Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > _Schnelles, intensives Gehen_ (Eng), roughly translatable as “fast and intensive walking” (English). > > The desired answer in the crossword turns out to be “walking”, . well that would be Walking, meaning 52 (in Joe Blog’s dictionary): Walking … A race, eg Olympic Event Oh well, you get to work it out from the letters possible given other clues too. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/10 "2014-04-24T11:21:44Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > The desired answer in the crossword turns out to be “walking”, although from the clue it sounds more like race walking. So I have to ask if any other native speakers of English are familiar with this narrower usage of the word. > > Oddly enough, when I studied German in high school I was taught that _gehen_ = “to walk”; but when I actually traveled over there and spent some time I found that my fellow students generally used the word _laufen_ instead. _Laufen_ normally means “to run” and in certain contexts was used to mean exactly that. The exact usage als varies with German dialects: In Swiss German, for example, “gehen” is used exactly as “go” in English, “laufen” means to “go by foot”, and “rennen” means “to run”. “Walken” is a new import and stands for the sport of “nordic walking” ---
**Author:** ![Remember\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Remember\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Remember_me)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/11 "2014-04-24T11:33:15Z")
Mops already gave the correct answer on how it was meant in the German crossword. As it came up several times, I would like to add that Olympic walking or [racewalking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racewalking)in German is simply called “Gehen” (which means “walking/to walk”). So, racewalking was not meant in the crosswords. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/12 "2014-04-24T12:37:05Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > You might still say “fare thee well” in Kansas, but certainly not over here. Even “farewell” is not in common use outside of poetry. > > The most likely place to find ‘fare’ (apart from bus fare etc, and rarely as bill of fare) is in ‘welfare’ which originally was related to happiness, good fortune or prosperity, and has now become a substitute for ‘charity’ which fell out of favour. They probably all come from the original German ‘fahren’. Right…I meant it as an example of a “fossilized expression,” which often hints at a broader obsolete meaning or construction. (Examples: “Joy to the world, the Lord **is** come;” “case in **point** ”). ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/13 "2014-04-24T13:17:11Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think in Old English, it would have been _gang_ (as in _gangway_) - which is obviously related to _gehen_ anyway. And is still used in Low Scots! The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men … an’ men / Gang aft agley Burns and current Scottish dialect usage ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/14 "2014-04-24T14:58:16Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think in Old English, it would have been _gang_ (as in _gangway_) - which is obviously related to _gehen_ anyway. Apparently, the derivation of “gang” is [not considered related to “go”](http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=gangway&searchmode=none) (and if you look at “go,” _gehen_ is mentioned.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/15 "2014-04-24T16:02:08Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > You might still say “fare thee well” in Kansas, but certainly not over here. Even “farewell” is not in common use outside of poetry. > > The most likely place to find ‘fare’ (apart from bus fare etc, and rarely as bill of fare) is in ‘welfare’ which originally was related to happiness, good fortune or prosperity, and has now become a substitute for ‘charity’ which fell out of favour. They probably all come from the original German ‘fahren’. Don’t forget “seafare”, normally “seafaring” (sea-going) or “seafarer” (sea-goer). ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/16 "2014-04-24T16:14:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Apparently, the derivation of “gang” is [not considered related to “go”](http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=gangway&searchmode=none) (and if you look at “go,” _gehen_ is mentioned.) Not as part of Gangway, but gang in low Scots means exactly ‘go’. If it appears as such in low Scots, it must be cognate or near cognate with old and middle English. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/17 "2014-04-24T16:17:13Z")
The etymological dictionary offered by puylkamell above gives fare (n.) Old English fær “journey, road, passage, expedition,” strong neuter of faran “to journey” (see fare (v.)); merged with faru “journey, expedition, companions, baggage,” strong fem. of faran. Original sense is obsolete, except in compounds (wayfarer, sea-faring, etc.) Meaning “food provided” is c.1200; that of “conveyance” appears in Scottish early 15c. and led to sense of “payment for passage” (1510s). gang (n.) Look up gang at [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) from Old English gang “a going, journey, way, passage,” and Old Norse gangr “a group of men, a set,” both from Proto-Germanic \*gangaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Danish, Dutch, Old High German, German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg “act of going”), from PIE root \*ghengh- “to step” (cognates: Sanskrit jangha “shank,” Avestan zanga- “ankle,” Lithuanian zengiu “I stride”). Thus not considered to be related to go. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/18 "2014-04-24T16:17:35Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Not as part of Gangway, but gang in low Scots means exactly ‘go’. If it appears as such in low Scots, it must be cognate or near cognate with old and middle English. If you read through the etymologies, the words appear to be related in meaning, but ultimately derive from different roots. ETA: Although another source does say they’re related. I’m only being careful here, because false cognates are not unusual in linguistics and just because two words look similar doesn’t necessarily mean they ultimately derive from the same root. You can’t necessarily say something “must be” or is “obviously” related to another word without digging about a bit in their histories. It’s certainly a plausible conclusion, but worth investigating. In this case, I can’t tell, because there appears to be conflicting info. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/19 "2014-04-24T18:45:28Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > You’ll need to conceptualize _Walking_ not as an English but as a German verb in this meaning (pronounced as in English but inflected as a German verb - indicative present: _Ich walke, du walkst, er/sie walkt, wir walken, ihr walkt, sie walken_). > > _Walking_ is widely understood in Germany as fast, energetic walking for purposes of exercise, often in the specific form of _Nordic Walking_ where you add propulsion by two special poles to also exercise the arms. It is recommended for and practiced by those who are not (yet) fit enough or who carry too much weight to take up running. _You’ll see a lot of ladies of a certain age in parks and forests, often with a friend and sometimes in **packs or shoals** , doing this as their exercise program._ (Emphasis mine) In translation, this sounds like the premise of a Monty Python sketch. [quote=chav type character] These days the woods are overrun by packs or shoals of ladies of a certain age. It isn’t safe anymore… > [@](#): > > The difference in meaning to the English verb ‘walking’ is understood. I was unaware of this, and it obviously explains the expected answer given the wording of the clue. In English we’d be more likely to say “walking for exercise”, unless that’s otherwise clear from the concept. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821/20 "2014-04-24T21:44:07Z")
My etymological dictionary unhesitatingly relates “go” to “gehen”. It is much more tentative about “gang” saying it is perhaps ultimately related to “go”. Since “gang” is the preterite of “gehen” this surprises me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-dialect-question-does-the-verb-to-walk-have-a-narrower-meaning-in-some-places/686821.md?page=2)