# What are some \*subtle\* differences among various dialects of English? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2017, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145 "2017-09-12T06:34:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145/221 "2017-10-31T22:26:41Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Folks in the Great Lakes area frequently append unnecessary possessives to business names, regardless of whether it’s in the name or not. e.g. Let’s shop at _Meijer’s_ That’s common in quite a bit of England as well: I’m going to Lidl’s, do you want anything? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145/222 "2017-10-31T22:41:31Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > That’s common in quite a bit of England as well: I’m going to Lidl’s, do you want anything? I’ve lived all over the east coast in the US and in CA, and I’ve heard it commonly used in all those places. I use it myself, and I’ve never lived in the midwest. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145/223 "2017-10-31T23:18:40Z")
African American Vernacular and Standard American English have all kinds of subtle differences. AAVE: You mean. SAVE: You are mean. AAVE: You be mean. SAVE: You are habitually mean. AAVE: Where you stay at? SAVE: Where do you live? In AAVE, it is not uncommon to hear “been done.” As in, “Why are you asking me when I’m going to graduate? I \*been \*done that.” The emphasis is always on the “been”, because the expression is only used when you’re referring to something that happened a long time ago. This is not the same thing as “done been”. You use “done been” when you’re referencing something that has been done in the past, but not necessarily a long time ago. As in, “Have I ever been to NYC? Yeah, I done been there.” I don’t know what American dialect(s) use “done been”, but I’ve heard it used. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145/224 "2017-10-31T23:53:12Z")
In ATVE, “Uh” is apparently the answer to any question asked by an adult. ATVE = American Teenage Vernacular English. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145/225 "2017-11-01T00:22:16Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > African American Vernacular and Standard American English have all kinds of subtle differences. > > AAVE: You mean. > SAVE: You are mean. > > AAVE: You be mean. > SAVE: You are habitually mean. > > AAVE: Where you stay at? > SAVE: Where do you live? > > In AAVE, it is not uncommon to hear “been done.” As in, “Why are you asking me when I’m going to graduate? I \*been \*done that.” The emphasis is always on the “been”, because the expression is only used when you’re referring to something that happened a long time ago. > > This is not the same thing as “done been”. You use “done been” when you’re referencing something that has been done in the past, but not necessarily a long time ago. As in, “Have I ever been to NYC? Yeah, I done been there.” I don’t know what American dialect(s) use “done been”, but I’ve heard it used. I mentioned multiple modals upthread, and this reminds me of them where there is a lot of nuance to the extra word that people might miss. I’ll say “I might could do that” or “I might would like that” or “I shouldn’t ought to do that” or even “I might should better do that.” The emphasis can be on any modal, depending on the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145/226 "2017-11-01T00:23:07Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > One I’ve been wondering about is “hold by”. > > In Orthodox Jewish communities, it’s a way of saying you follow a particular religious ruling- i.e., “I don’t do X, I hold by Rabbi Ploni.” I don’t think I’ve heard it used in any way in the wider world. I don’t know if there are other English speakers who say something similar, or if it’s just a Yiddishism that found its way into Yinglish. Talking about religion, Melbourne.vic.aus, kids: “Who do you go for?” … “I go for the Hawks, who do you go for?” … “Richmond” I go for the Cats myself (Geelong). ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145/227 "2017-11-02T03:54:59Z")
I have skimmed the first 50 posts here, but the danger of my repeating someone else’s example is for me outweighed by the additional time of mine it would take to read all five pages. So–one of my favorite Britishisms is “didn’t we?” and the like. For example, “We arrived yesterday, didn’t we?” Or “Earth revolves around the sun, doesn’t it?” “I’m more confident than I pretend to be, aren’t I?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-subtle-differences-among-various-dialects-of-english/796145.md?page=11)