# Use of the word "our" or "your" by British **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003 "2007-01-07T01:06:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/21 "2007-01-07T10:13:16Z")
Being from the Southern UK, and speaking RP (received pronounciation) I would be rather surprized to hear a non-Yorkshireman use ‘our’ and ‘your’ when referring to family. You are right that CUA is basing a lot of its humour on a ‘class’ thing, but the joke is that Hyacinth gets it wrong - you get similar humour in Minder where Arthur Daley persistently uses the wrong words or pronounciation. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/22 "2007-01-07T10:16:48Z")
Or Del Boy ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/23 "2007-01-07T11:50:58Z")
[QUOTE=FRDE] Being from the Southern UK, and speaking RP (received pronounciation) I would be rather surprized to hear a non-Yorkshireman use ‘our’ and ‘your’ when referring to family. [/QUOTE] Would you really? Or do you just mean that you can’t tell one northerner from another? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/24 "2007-01-07T13:07:22Z")
I’ve noticed that Hyacinth always says “my sister Daisy” or “my sister Violet, the one with a sauna and room for a pony” instead of “our Daisy.” I’ve found the “our John” construction useful when in conversations in which the participants might be referring to any one of several persons named John, but it’s not a common usage. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/25 "2007-01-07T13:12:04Z")
[QUOTE=FRDE] Being from the Southern UK, and speaking RP (received pronounciation) I would be rather surprized to hear a non-Yorkshireman use ‘our’ and ‘your’ when referring to family. [/QUOTE] It’s used here in Nottingham, along with ‘our kid’ (well, ‘arkid’) to refer to a brother. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/26 "2007-01-07T13:20:27Z")
[QUOTE=FRDE] Being from the Southern UK, and speaking RP (received pronounciation) I would be rather surprized to hear a non-Yorkshireman use ‘our’ and ‘your’ when referring to family. [/QUOTE] As a Yorkshireman I’m surprised to see our **FRDE** spelling surprised surprized. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/27 "2007-01-07T14:41:32Z")
I’ve lived in Yorkshire all my life and in my experience usage of “our” and “your” isn’t very common. You do hear it from time to time and nobody seems confused when it is used but it isn’t the norm. The usage I hear most frequently is “our kid” and “your kid” to refer to a brother. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/28 "2007-01-07T14:47:56Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] As a Yorkshireman I’m surprised to see our **FRDE** spelling surprised surprized. [/QUOTE] OED versus the Cambridge version - check ‘realize’. To me ‘ize’ makes more sense, so I generally use it, standardization in the absence of a definitive Dueden. Admittedly the true standards are erratic, but I prefer to be consistent. Heck, Chez, I thought you conducted your morbid experiments in Stow, a migratory Yorkshireman, how interesting. Or is there a Stow in Yorkshire, I did not find one, but my search was cursory (Cab Sauv impedes my Googling). ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/29 "2007-01-07T15:23:56Z")
It’s also common in Scotland, as witness the well-known comic strip [Oor Wullie](http://www.thatsbraw.co.uk/Oor%20Wullie/OW-Page.htm) (Our Willie). ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/30 "2007-01-07T16:43:34Z")
Just joshing **FRDE**. There’s an Americanism for you just to illustrate my international linguistic credentials. My home is Stow in Gloucestershire and I don’t think there is a place of that name in Yorkshire. I was thrown out of that illustrious county because of the morbid experiments you mention. I _think_ I’ve since been sentenced to death in my absence. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/31 "2007-01-07T16:48:54Z")
I’ve heard people Liverpool Manchester and Lancashire use it. It’s more of a working class thing, and probably why Hyacinth doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/32 "2007-01-07T17:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Just joshing **FRDE**. There’s an Americanism for you just to illustrate my international linguistic credentials. My home is Stow in Gloucestershire and I don’t think there is a place of that name in Yorkshire. I was thrown out of that illustrious county because of the morbid experiments you mention. I _think_ I’ve since been sentenced to death in my absence. [/QUOTE] Until today I thought Stow-in-the-Wold I found various Stow Hotels in Yorkshire. I think the odious suit might be down to smells being either oil or water carried. Wool would disintegrate without oils, so dry cleaning needs to be a compromise. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/33 "2007-01-07T18:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=FRDE] Until today I thought Stow-in-the-Wold. [/QUOTE] Sure, that’s the one. Stow-on-the-Wold (Stow for short) west of Oxford, east of Cheltenham and south of Stratford. Back to the OP, the Mafia also uses the expression _our_ as in _Cosa Nostra_ (Our Thing). Regarding the suit, you must be talking about my other threads. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/34 "2007-01-07T18:50:27Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Just joshing **FRDE**. There’s an Americanism for you just to illustrate my international linguistic credentials. My home is Stow in Gloucestershire and I don’t think there is a place of that name in Yorkshire. I was thrown out of that illustrious county because of the morbid experiments you mention. I _think_ I’ve since been sentenced to death in my absence. [/QUOTE] According to _reliable_ sources the death sentence only applies if you attempt to return ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/35 "2007-01-07T20:58:24Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] It’s also common in Scotland, as witness the well-known comic strip [Oor Wullie](http://www.thatsbraw.co.uk/Oor%20Wullie/OW-Page.htm) (Our Willie). [/QUOTE] It’s not common in Scotland, with the caveat that, for all I know, it _might_ have been common in Dundee at whatever point in the Dark Ages that comic strip started. Like others posting here, I tend to think of it as a northern (vaguely defined) English usage. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/36 "2007-01-07T21:46:04Z")
I’m from Wigan, Gtr Manchester (not Yorkshire!) and it’s used all the time. I’d hardly call it a “working class” thing. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/37 "2007-01-07T22:52:50Z")
Born and raised in Yorkshire. I’ve heard it used frequently. I don’t use it myself though. For some reason I find it really annoying. ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003/38 "2007-01-08T11:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Sure, that’s the one. Stow-on-the-Wold (Stow for short) west of Oxford, east of Cheltenham and south of Stratford. Back to the OP, the Mafia also uses the expression _our_ as in _Cosa Nostra_ (Our Thing). Regarding the suit, you must be talking about my other threads. 😉 [/QUOTE] My aged mother lives close to Stow - it keeps me away from the area. It seems the ‘our’ thing is more widely used than I expected. Nice pun on the ‘Threads’ 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-the-word-our-or-your-by-british/387003.md?page=1)