The other regional expression thread got me thinking about regional expressions you use, but when someone else asks what they mean or for you to explain the grammar of them, you kind of flounder.
Off the top of my head there are two that are common, I think not only in New Hampshire but most of New England, that defy clear explanations. I mean, I try to explain, but while I can explain what they mean, I cannot articulate why they mean what they do. In both cases I was an adult before I understood that these are confusing to people from away, ftr.
Quarter of
Fifteen minutes before the hour. When I first learned that this is not immediately understood, I couldn’t understand how anyone might think it could possibly mean fifteen minutes after the hour. Because of course of means before! Just like in other expressions…like… okay, I’ve got nothing. Quarter of definitely means 15 before the hour, though.
So don’t I
It should have occurred to me much sooner that this expression is odd, yet it somehow did not. This phrase is used in two different tones, but basically the same way: as a substitute for I do too.
Either you’re saying it as a simple agreement
Speaker 1: I like chocolate ice cream the best
Speaker 2: so don’t I
or, you’re protesting that you also do the same thing or feel the same way the first person does because they’re heavily implied that you do not.
Speaker 1: I pay my taxes every year
Speaker 2: So don’t I!
So…despite it looking nothing like one, it’s a statement of agreement. Occasionally a hostile kind of agreement.
I’m from New York City, close to New England, but I’ve never heard this. Offhand I’d assume it was a cute response, e.g. “I don’t talk to strangers.” – “So don’t I”. Or “I don’t like onions” – “So don’t I.”
“So don’t I” looks to me like a sarcastic inversion. If you want to affirm that someone else’s statement applies to you too, “so do I” is the semantically straightforward statement that will do that.
(Unless I suppose, you’re seeking to include yourself in a negative statement, e.g. “I don’t like grapefruit”. My way of doing that would be “neither do I”, but “so don’t I” would make semantic sense. But the OP suggests that “so don’t I” is used to include yourself in a positive statement.)
AFAIK, “quarter of”, “ten of”, etc. are used or at least understood everywhere in the US, but not at all in Canada. Shortly after I moved here, a colleague heard me us it and explained that he was familiar with it from having gone to school in the US, but Canadians generally do not. So I have learned to say “Quarter to”, although it doesn’t feel natural to me. A bit like “zed” for the last letter of the alphabet.
I understand both Quarter Of and Quarter To: it seems Quarter To is more popular in Florida. I’m not sure if some people are actually saying “Quarter 'til” because that makes sense as well and the “To” is spoken quickly and softly.
It’s from our German influence of bitte, which means “please”, “you’re welcome”, or “pardon”. And hearing bitte around here isn’t that uncommon either.
I’ve seen a few instances of misunderstanding in this with people from out of the area.
For instance:
“Would you like some goetta?”
“Please.”
“Would you like some goetta?”
“Please.”
“WOULD YOU LIKE SOME GOETTA!!!?”
“Why are you yelling? And what’s Goetta?”
Or of course, the other way around:
“Would you like … unintelligible …?”
“Please?”
“Great, coming right up!”
Because we script a huge chunk of the dialog seen in movies and TV, I’m not sure there are too many Southern California expressions the rest of the English speaking world hasn’t heard already. The only one I can think of is putting the article “the” in front of highway numbers. People from other places know what we’re talking about, but they just think it’s weird.
I remember once hearing a friend say “I usen’t do that, but now I’m OK with it”. I thought about it and realized I couldn’t say it better without soundin’g pedantic.
In the small community of folks descended from immigrants from the Netherlands that I reside in, the contraction mayn’t for “may not” was common. Grandma M used it all the time. “You mayn’t climb on the outhouse. Now get down from up there!”
Been down here for 40 years. I can’t remember ever hearing the latter meaning. I know it exists in theory, but when ladies are annoyed they don’t waste time. Now when they want to be comforting, which is frequently in my experience in the south, there are many conventional ways to express that. Bless Your Heart isn’t high on that list.
I’ve heard this in the southern Appalachians.
If you pull over and ask for directions, you may get “You can’t get there from here” as a response.
It could mean “I don’t know,” or “It involves a complex set of directions which I may or may not remember correctly, and I’ll likely tell you to disregard everything I just said and follow this new tangled web of routes.”