# It's "needs washed"!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575 "2009-08-25T00:16:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/21 "2009-08-25T01:50:15Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > Well I was just being frivolous. But in the ‘needs washing’ usage doesn’t ‘needs’ imply ‘needs to be’? That is how I read it as a future tense. > > Disclaimer: I am not an English teacher and my garden needs water, so I will leave the Pit now. It’s going to rain tomorrow so the car will need washing the day after. It rained yesterday so the car needs washing (it is dirty right now). ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/22 "2009-08-25T01:55:22Z")
Everyone I work with talks like that. It is driving me insane. Except they add an extra layer to the fun by making it into “needs warshed”. Shoot me. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/23 "2009-08-25T01:58:17Z")
I need to get my hair did too. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/24 "2009-08-25T02:02:39Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > Needs washing, isn’t passive or repetitive, its a simple construction. We like to put nouns or noun stand ins after active verbs. Besides the car is out there going “I need a washing” in the only way a car can, by being dirty. “washing” is the present participle used with continual aspect, as in “am walking” or “is reading”. “Washed” is for completed aspect, such as “has walked” or “will have read”. Completed makes sense, continual does not. I’m right, and yinz ‘r’ all wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/25 "2009-08-25T02:27:08Z")
Down here in the South, we just say, “You need to wash your damn car.” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/26 "2009-08-25T02:29:36Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Actually, your rules make you sound like an uneducated hillbilly Nonsense. I don’t have a southern accent! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/27 "2009-08-25T02:38:47Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Down here in the South, we just say, “You need to wash your damn car.” Actually, that’s to friends and family. To acquaintances and Yankees, we say somethine more passive-aggressive, like “Oh, I love your car. What color was it?” ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/28 "2009-08-25T02:57:26Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Screw this continuous/repetitive aspect and passive voice bullshit. I’m using present tense, completed aspect, active voice, and you’d better like it. It’s not “needs to be washed”, not “needs washing”, it’s “The car needs washed.” And while I’m at it, the dishwasher needs emptied and **the dished need put away.** > > I can’t imagine what’s going through your imagination when you say something as looney as “The car needs washing.” What, the car is out there going “And I’m washing, and I’m washing, and I’m still washing…” I’m not saying the phrase because I want to you be in the process of washing, I want it done. Finished. Over with. Completed, damn it! > > So quit correcting my grammar. Your rules are silly. My rules make more sense and they sound better too. So there. What, pray tell, is a dished? Are “needs to be washed” and “needs washing” actually incorrect grammar uses? “Needs warshed” sounds all goofy and wonky to me. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/29 "2009-08-25T03:02:16Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Down here in the South, we just say, “You need to wash your damn car.” Go a couple hundred miles east of Pittsburgh and we just say, “Wash your fucking car, you disgusting jackass.” (The OP is a joke, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/30 "2009-08-25T03:14:36Z")
All right, for anyone still confused about my intent here: I’m tired of using a perfectly sensible dialect that I’ve used my entire life and being corrected on it. Currently, I live in D.C., but I’m originally from Pittsburgh. “Needs Xed” or “wants Xed” sounds correct to me and “Xing” sounds idiotic. And “to be” is as optional as _that_ in the sentence “I spent the money _that_ I earned.” My dialect is recognized. It’s standard where I come from. And as I hoped to argue (as much as one can argue over usage) that it makes sense. So I parodied those people that claim their usage is “right” and mine is “wrong”. So I wrote the equally valid claim that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Instead of putting it in GD where nothing productive could’ve come of it, or putting it in IMHO where I already knew the outcome, I put it in the Pit becaues it pisses me off to no end that I’m surrounded by grammar nazis that think I’m speaking this way out of ignorance. Half of them, if asked to name a part of speech, would guess “the tongue?” So there. I now return you to your regularly scheduled pointless, baseless assertions about language. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/31 "2009-08-25T03:24:10Z")
Edit, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/32 "2009-08-25T03:29:15Z")
Needs more ranted. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/33 "2009-08-25T03:31:51Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > “washing” is the present participle used with continual aspect, as in “am walking” or “is reading”. “Washed” is for completed aspect, such as “has walked” or “will have read”. Completed makes sense, continual does not. I’m right, and yinz ‘r’ all wrong. No its not, that only works for linking/state of being verbs. Needs is an action verb and washing is a gerund. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/34 "2009-08-25T03:34:16Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > All right, for anyone still confused about my intent here: > > I’m tired of using a perfectly sensible dialect that I’ve used my entire life and being corrected on it. Currently, I live in D.C., but I’m originally from Pittsburgh. “Needs Xed” or “wants Xed” sounds correct to me and “Xing” sounds idiotic. And “to be” is as optional as _that_ in the sentence “I spent the money _that_ I earned.” > > My dialect is recognized. It’s standard where I come from. And as I hoped to argue (as much as one can argue over usage) that it makes sense. So I parodied those people that claim their usage is “right” and mine is “wrong”. So I wrote the equally valid claim that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Instead of putting it in GD where nothing productive could’ve come of it, or putting it in IMHO where I already knew the outcome, I put it in the Pit becaues it pisses me off to no end that I’m surrounded by grammar nazis that think I’m speaking this way out of ignorance. Half of them, if asked to name a part of speech, would guess “the tongue?” So there. > I now return you to your regularly scheduled pointless, baseless assertions about language. Maybe if you answered them right back, complete with condescension but without rancor. Maintain decorum and say, “My car doesn’t need washing, thanks. But I do, as I have fallen on hard times. I’m even willing to iron. Do you have anything that needs washed or ironed?” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/35 "2009-08-25T03:35:33Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > … and washing is a gerund. That’s right Has to be. It’s the object. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/36 "2009-08-25T03:39:51Z")
Add another vote for “Wash the car.” “This needs doing” sounds to me like you could just as easily do it, yet have not. So fuck you, ya lazy jackass. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/37 "2009-08-25T03:48:04Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > I need to get my hair did too. No, I think it’s “my hair needs did.” Seriously, has the OP never heard of Standard English? You can talk your dialect all you want, but it’s not Standard English. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/38 "2009-08-25T03:55:36Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Are “needs to be washed” and “needs washing” actually incorrect grammar uses? “Needs warshed” sounds all goofy and wonky to me. They are both grammatically correct since they follow Subject-\>Action-\>Object. This car needs to be washed: Subject: car Action: needs Object : to be (infinitive) (“washed” is a participle adjective describing “to be” indicating that the car needs to be in a state where washing has already occurred) This car needs washing: Subject: car Action: needs Object: washing (gerund) Needs Washed sounds goofy because it is not a Standard English sentence pattern. Despite its usage in certain dialects. ---
**Author:** ![Blisters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Blisters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blisters)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/39 "2009-08-25T04:57:31Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Now, see, this shouldn’t be funny to me anymore, because since I first watched that movie, my husband has said this dozens of times. Yet, I laugh. I also laughed. Well, technically I snorted in a very unattractive manner and then laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575/40 "2009-08-25T05:17:07Z")
It’s needs warshed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-needs-washed/507575.md?page=3)