I’ve heard Midwesterners say, “Are you going to come with?” when they mean “Are you going to come with me/us?” I haven’t heard this in the South, or on either East or West Coast. Is this some Germanic or Scandinavian construction that persists in the English of the Midwest or have I just never noticed this construction elsewhere?
I’ve only heard it in Wisconsin.
Injecting my own personal opinion here, I’ve never understood why lots of people think this is such a peculiar expression. The word “me/us” is simply left off of the end of the question. There are far more arcane regional expressions out there.
I live in central Indiana (ostensibly part of the Midwest, though I’ve heard arguments to the contrary), and the only locals I’ve ever heard use it were originally from the Chicagoland area and/or Wisconsin.
I live in California, and I use it, and I never thought of it as a regionalism or in any way peculiar. I think it’s just an extension of how “tag along” is used to a different verb.
Now I’m curious if other people around me use it or if I picked it up from television.
I’ve heard it’s a Germanism, translated. In German it’s standard speech to say Kommst du mit?, which roughly translates to “Are you coming with?”. Given the historic heritage of German-speaking immigration to the Upper Midwest, and especially to Wisconsin, I think it’s a pretty solid case.
I’ve heard it in the “German” Northern Tier, such as North Dakota and Minnesota. I say “German” because of the huge German and Scandinavian influence from the early settlers there.
Tripler
O yah, youbetcha.
I never heard that phrase used until I moved out of Texas. I’d keep staring at the person waiting for him to finish his sentence.
I can vouch that it’s quite common in Chicago…TRM
I’ll vouch for Chicago, too. Very common here, at least on the SW side.
I grew up in southeastern Ohio and never heard it until I moved to Chicago, where it was pervasive. I’m now back in Columbus and I hear it here more frequently, so maybe it’s spreading.
“Everyone” here in Toronto, and for that matter Calgary, too (IIRC), uses “come with”.
I’ve lived in central Wisconsin all my life, and I say it all the time.
My impression is that it was popularized as adolescent slang, wherever it may have originated from. At least in two areas of the East separated by 700 miles, I’ve heard it from teens but not, as a rule, from adults.
Any regional usage will sound peculiar to people unfamiliar with it. If you came to Ireland you would hear people ending sentences with “but”, or in the north of Ireland saying “whenever” instead of “when” (“whenever my father died, I was very upset”). If you had never heard these expressions before, however obvious the meaning, you would be taken aback.
I live in the SouthWest and say it. Heard it said way back in the early nineties by some adults. Thought it sounded dumb but picked it up myself for some reason.
Or, more literally, if you are willing to think in more early modern English, “Comest thou with?”
Anyway, I use this expression (come with), and I was raised primarily in the South, (with a few years in Nebraska) and my parents were from NJ/NY (NYC metro area), so it could possibly be a Yiddishism as well. I do have a few Yiddishisms in my vocabulary, such as “What’s with <object>” and schpiel.
It seems like a normal enough phrase to me. I say it. I’m from California.
If it’s a Germanism, could it also be a Yiddishism?
It was definitely common when I grew up in Minnesota. There’s nothing “adolescent slang” about it. Little old ladies would use it. “With” is being used as a synonym for “along.” Apparently other parts of the country have some big issue with treating with as an occasional adverb :).
Point taken.
I could not say that the construction is taken from Scandinavian or German languages, but it certainly does make sense in Danish as well as German. You would say Kommer du med? for Are you coming with me? and so on.