# "Goes" vs. "Says" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670 "2005-07-22T16:33:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/21 "2005-07-23T00:16:26Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > Yep, “like” and “is all” took the place of “goes” in the last decade or so. So, I’m like, “What’s up with that?”, and she’s all “Whatever”. :rolleyes: I forgot the last part. After a couple seconds pause, “Right?”. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/22 "2005-07-23T00:17:21Z")
Isn’t the verb “go” appropriate to describe the sound something makes, as opposed to a direct quote. What I said was, "A cow goes ‘moo’ and a car goes ‘vrooom.’ " * * * In response to my general inquiry, contained in the fax dated July 20, 2005, wherein I indicated the extent of my situation, to wit **there’s a hole in my bucket** I am writing both to confirm receipt of your reply, the substance of which being **then fix it** as well to further to seek clarification, in light of your excellent suggestion, **with what?** If I may be so bold as to anticipate the nature and content of your subsequent instruction, that being to use certain material _vis a vis_ **with straw** alas, after careful inspection and inventory of said material it is my sad duty to report **the straw is too long** and therefore inadequate for restorative application in its current configuration. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/23 "2005-07-23T01:23:27Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > I heard that a “weasel” is a term for one of a cobbler’s tool as is “monkey”, and that “pop” was slang for pawn so “pop goes the weasel” means that the cobbler pawned this tool. I suppose this was because the supplies are so expensive “penny for a spool of thread, penny for a needle, that’s the way the money goes …” You’ve conflated two different explainations for this rhyme, [Cecil covered both of them in this column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990402a.html). ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/24 "2005-07-23T01:43:17Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Ahem. As I noted, the speech was **slightly revised** This is an example of using something in an inappropriate context to highlight absurdity. Not just an inappropriate context, but an inappropriate use: _From the day of our Founding, we have gone that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value…_ “Gone” is never followed by a “that” phrase, IME… only by a quote (but not necessarily a verbatim quote). I might say: _I asked the teller to cash my check, and she said [that] she couldn’t cash it without ID._ Or: _I went “Hey, can you cash this?”, and she went “Sorry, you need an ID. Get lost.”_ But never: _I asked the teller to cash my check, and she went that I needed ID._ > [@Nature's Call](#): > > Isn’t the verb “go” appropriate to describe the sound something makes, as opposed to a direct quote. Isn’t a quote just a transcription of the sound someone makes? Cows go “moo”. Bees go “bzzzz”. People go “hello” or “get off my lawn!” or “fourscore and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent a new nation…” ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/25 "2005-07-23T03:12:51Z")
A car goes (or proceeds) down the road - fine. A song goes (or proceeds) something like this… - fine. The song’s lyrics go like this… uh, still fine, I guess, but I don’t like where this is headed. The singer goes… Et cetera, et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/26 "2005-07-23T04:50:27Z")
> [@The Chao Goes Mu](#): > > This question stems from my own name here on the Dope. Is it even remotely acceptable to use the word “goes” in place of “says?” For example > > Henry: I told dear Liza there was a hole in my bucket and she goes “Well fix it > dear Henry” > > As opposed to …She says “well fix it dear Henry.” > > When toning down my grammar in casual conversation I sometimes throw out the word “goes” but never during serious or professional conversations. > > Is saying “goes” strictly slang or has it been accepted due to rampant use in American English culture? Goes, short for goes to say. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/27 "2005-07-23T13:34:59Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Goes, short for goes to say. Now, THAT seems colloquial and casual. Of course, there’s always “…she goes on to say,” but that distorts the sense of the sentence. The use of present tense in discussing past events, as has been discussed in several previous threads, is perfectly acceptable in certain contexts. Remarking on historical events, for example, one might use present tense for a long description of acts. For instance, in, say, a discussion of a war, a historian might use this construction: “General Smith, discovering that his plan has been botched, moves his men into position on the hill. At this point, his medic, throwing up on his shoes, tells him that there are only five men left to fight…” etc. In the construction of the OP, that would be, “At that point, I tell Dear Liza that there’s a hole in the bucket. She tells me to fix it.” etc. Again, however, that spoils the spirit of the text. It moves it from the informal and colloquial to something quite different. “Says,” and “goes,” are much better left to casual (and oral) language. xo, C. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/28 "2005-07-23T16:53:45Z")
I suspect the modern colloquial and youth usage of “goes” for “says, utters” is founded in part by the descriptions of non-verbal sounds using forms of “to go” : “a foghorn that every night went ‘Aah-ooo-gah.’” “The cow goes moo.” and so on. Also a contributing factor may be the quite standard if relatively informal usage of “to go” for the description of specific wording: “How does that song go?” “The third verse of _God Save the Queen_ goes like this…” “How does the ‘heirs and assigns’ clause in a warranty deed go?” This usage, unlike “…and then Heather went…,” is more or less standard, if somewhat informal; a precisionist would rephrase them as “Would you kindly give me the specific wording for that song?,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/29 "2005-07-23T17:53:47Z")
> [@](#): > > The singer goes… To the greenroom, where else? Like, omygod, she went all apesh!t and gos “don’t talk to me like that” and Bil gos “Like sorry about that.” yech… ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670/30 "2005-07-23T19:45:06Z")
Carp - fine insights. That does make sense. It even legitimizes it to an extent to think that young kids are actually mimicing a common, and accepted, usage they learned at their parents’ knees. It’s not simply an affectation. Ah, the SDMB - always something to learn here. Love it! xo, C. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goes-vs-says/313670.md?page=1)