# Where in the U.S. is "come with." used? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395 "2010-01-10T15:51:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/21 "2010-01-10T21:13:30Z")
I’ve used it all the time growing up in Michigan, never thought of it as a regional thing until now. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/22 "2010-01-10T21:14:01Z")
Is there any overlap with the regions that use “needs washed”? You could poetentially have sentence like, “My laundry needs washed; you want to come with?” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/23 "2010-01-10T21:20:46Z")
I have heard it in parts of PA. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/24 "2010-01-11T00:38:36Z")
I’m from the Chicago area, and I had no idea that that was a regionalism. Really? ---
**Author:** ![Coalcracker0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b38774/32.png) [@Coalcracker0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coalcracker0)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/25 "2010-01-11T01:06:25Z")
Lancaster, PA ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/26 "2010-01-11T01:22:48Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > 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. Yeah it was very common among skaters where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/27 "2010-01-11T01:28:29Z")
I also didn’t know this was a regional saying. It sounds perfectly normal to me. I grew up in Minnesota and live in Chicago now. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/28 "2010-01-11T01:53:34Z")
I’d never heard this expression until I moved to Chicago a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/29 "2010-01-11T02:34:06Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Is there any overlap with the regions that use “needs washed”? You could poetentially have sentence like, “My laundry needs washed; you want to come with?” For what it’s worth Fear, I’ve never heard the phrase “needs washed” around this area. People actually say that? It sounds so strange. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/30 "2010-01-11T02:59:24Z")
> [@nikonikosuru](#): > > For what it’s worth Fear, I’ve never heard the phrase “needs washed” around this area. People actually say that? It sounds so strange. Perfectly normal for me (Indianapolis). “The car needs to be washed” sounds like what a snooty English professor might say. Like when people never use contractions. Maybe I should pay more attention to movies/TV because I can’t remember what they tend to use. “Come with” sounds like what a 20 something girl/teenager would say. I can’t imagine a guy saying it unless he was gay or making fun of women or gay people. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/31 "2010-01-11T03:21:26Z")
It’s a pretty standard saying in these parts. FTR, Pittsburgh is plurality German, Irish, and German-Irish. > [@nikonikosuru](#): > > For what it’s worth Fear, I’ve never heard the phrase “needs washed” around this area. People actually say that? It sounds so strange. [Ka-bam!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=529330&highlight=washed) ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/32 "2010-01-11T03:53:07Z")
I’d never heard it until my Hon, of Scandinavian and Chicago descent, used it. I’ve lived in California, NY, Maine, and the South. Still sounds weird to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/33 "2010-01-11T04:05:15Z")
Anecdotal evidence places usage in Juneau, AK in 1989. I thought it was a very odd thing to say. Don’t know the regional origins of the girl who said it, however. ---
**Author:** ![beo.thuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@beo.thuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beo.thuck)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/34 "2010-01-11T06:45:31Z")
I know a couple of brothers from NJ that ask “come with?”. It always seems a bit awkward though. I think they picked it up from their parents who were originally from up around Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/35 "2010-01-11T07:32:12Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > 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. The only time I ever heard this on a regular basis was while living in a dorm. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/36 "2010-01-11T08:34:51Z")
I also first heard this in college dorms, from people from Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/37 "2010-01-11T10:56:35Z")
It’s a common, if declasse, way of saying it in South African English too, but I don’t think it comes from the Afrikaans, where the construction is more like “come together (with us)” - kom saam (met ons) where the bracketed bits are optional. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/38 "2010-01-11T13:00:48Z")
It still is adolescent slang around here. As far as I can tell, it was picked up on the Internet. What I find funny is that, most of the time, the word “with” could be left off without a change of meaning. Usually ,the person has previously specified that they are themselves going, so, obviously, if they invite you to come, they want you to “come with them.” “Going to the store. Wanna come with?” ---
**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/39 "2010-01-11T13:39:23Z")
It could be of Scandinavian origin, although it’s not quite like we’d say it. In Norwegian, we’d usually say either “Kommer du?” or “Blir du med (oss)?”. Keeping the syntax, they’d translate as “Coming you?” and “Becoming you with (us)?”. Both are common, but the last one sounds more proper to me, so I suppose “with”, used in this context, would be natural to a lot of Scandinavians. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/40 "2010-01-11T14:39:49Z")
I use it all the time, as in, “I’m going to the store, do you want to come with?” My wife thinks it a yiddishism. But I would not use it without the first clause. But here in French Canada, they do say, “Je suis sortie avec hier soir.” (“I went out with [someone] last night”), not a phrase I could ever imagine using. I don’t know if this would be used in France. In case, anyone is inclined to argue, I got this phrase verbatim from a French Canadian linguist with a PhD from MIT (advisor:Chomsky) who was studying such structures professionally. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395.md?page=3)