# "Needs fixed," etc.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needs-fixed-etc/86398>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 9, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needs-fixed-etc/86398 "2001-10-09T20:23:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needs-fixed-etc/86398/1 "2001-10-09T20:23:39Z")

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Here in Ohio (Dayton) I often hear phrases that follow this pattern:  
_need(s)_ (or _want(s)_ or similar verbs) + past participle  
…as in “the fence needs fixed” rather than “the fence needs **to be** fixed.” I even recall a Dayton Daily News sports headline: “A score that needs settled.” (It saddened me greatly to see that in print, but that’s not the point here.)

I haven’t heard it outside Ohio other than once in Pittsburgh, but maybe I just haven’t been paying attention. Is the use of such a construction particular to any region of the country?

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needs-fixed-etc/86398/2 "2001-10-09T20:44:23Z")

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We’ve been here before:

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49906](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49906)

It does indeed seem to be a regionalism, though we are somewhat fuzzy on the region. It seems to include Pittsburgh specifically, Western PA in general, and parts of Ohio.

As a bonus, the discussion of “Burghese” came up in my search:

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49859](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49859)

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**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needs-fixed-etc/86398/3 "2001-10-09T21:31:22Z")

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Thanks. I wasn’t sure just what to search on to look for this.