# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/41 "2010-01-11T16:52:45Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I can vouch that it’s quite common in Chicago…TRM Same here. I grew up in the Chicago burbs. My East Coast wife always makes fun of me for it. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/42 "2010-01-11T17:00:53Z")
Grew up in Minnesota, and it doesn’t sound strange to me, but instead of “Are you going to come with?” I’m more likely to say “Are you coming with?” ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/43 "2010-01-11T17:03:43Z")
Isn’t it possible the usage originated in the UK? It’s used in Yorkshire, I know that much. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/44 "2010-01-11T17:13:23Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > 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. I had no idea the “needs VERBed” construction extended all the way to Indy. I always thought it was a Western Pennsylvania/Eastern Ohio dialect feature. Interesting. Anyhow, “needs washed” would sound very weird around here. I’ve since gotten used to the construction, but it still causes me pause. I very rarely, if ever, hear that construction on TV. The typical way to say your sentence would be “The car needs to be washed” or “The car needs a wash” or “The car needs washing.” (Although, the last sounds a little stilted to my ears, and the first would sound more like “Da car needstubby washed” around here.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/45 "2010-01-11T17:33:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I had no idea the “needs VERBed” construction extended all the way to Indy. I always thought it was a Western Pennsylvania/Eastern Ohio dialect feature. Interesting. > > Anyhow, “needs washed” would sound very weird around here. I’ve since gotten used to the construction, but it still causes me pause. I very rarely, if ever, hear that construction on TV. The typical way to say your sentence would be “The car needs to be washed” or “The car needs a wash” or “The car needs washing.” (Although, the last sounds a little stilted to my ears, and the first would sound more like “Da car needstubby washed” around here.) We mapped this out a couple of months ago. It appears to have originated in Western Pennsylvania and to be a standard dialectal usage across much of Ohio and Indiana, with instances of its use in Iowa and California noted by various Dopers. There were also a couple of outliers in western New York and Ontario IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/46 "2010-01-11T18:01:46Z")
The only time I ever hear “come with” in Atlanta is from northern transplants. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/47 "2010-01-11T18:08:07Z")
My Mom was born in Germany and raised in upstate NY. Her speech contained a number of ‘Germanisms’ and ‘come with’ was certainly one of them. I picked it up also to some extent. “A preposition is something you should never end a sentence with.” ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/48 "2010-01-11T20:23:46Z")
> [@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?” I grew up in Western PA, ground zero for the “needs” thing, which sounds OK to me. Informal, but OK. The “come with?” construction just sounds wrong, and haven’t noticed it being used anywhere I’ve lived. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/49 "2010-01-11T21:25:50Z")
My answer was going to be “around 1995”. I also thought it was adolescent slang, but that was when I was in college, with a lot of people from Ohio, so maybe that’s where I heard it. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/50 "2010-01-11T21:44:15Z")
I first heard it a few years ago on TV shows. I always thought it was some Hollywood/LA slang, but I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/51 "2010-01-11T22:06:31Z")
I hear and use it in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/52 "2010-01-11T22:28:52Z")
Very common in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/53 "2010-01-13T20:27:44Z")
I hear it relatively frequently here in PA. It’s generally said by people who say things like “I’m going to Hawaii. Have you ever been?”. Actually, yes, I’ve \*\*\*been \*\*\*for over 36 years (depending on when you consider my existence to have started). Sometimes if I hear somebody say, “Are you coming with?” or “Have you ever been?”, I’ll just stare at them blankly, waiting for them to finish their thought. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/54 "2010-01-13T21:18:13Z")
In German you could ask ‘Kommst du mit?’ which means ‘Are you coming along?’ or more literally, "You coming with?’ The German preposition ‘mit’ translates to the English ‘with.’ ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/55 "2010-01-14T03:03:43Z")
It’s common in Minnesota, and goes back at least 55 years to my childhood–commonly a kid might ask a parent if a friend can “come with” on some outing, or equally commonly a parent might ask if a child’s friend wanted to “come with” on some outing. “Come along” was probably equally common, however–at least among parents. It’s certainly not a recent construction. “Needs washed” is very, very uncommon in Minnesota, if used at all. I don’t remember ever hearing it in Minnesota, Virginia, or Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/56 "2010-01-14T09:16:41Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > 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. And in Swedish. > [@yelimS](#): > > 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)?”. Sorry, but the correct translations would be “Are you coming?” and “Will you stay (in our company)?”. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/57 "2010-01-14T18:25:18Z")
I’m from Michigan and can’t remember ever hearing it outside of TV. It always sounds awkward to me. My grandmother was from Norway, grandpa from Pennsylvania, no one in our family says it. ETA: We either say “Are you coming?”, or “Are you coming with me?” ---
**Author:** ![beatlejuice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@beatlejuice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beatlejuice)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/58 "2010-01-14T20:48:03Z")
My girlfriends husband is Swedish and they use it often. It irks me to no end. I don’t know if I should go WITH him or WITH her or WITH both of them. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/59 "2010-01-14T20:54:49Z")
> [@beatlejuice](#): > > My girlfriends husband is Swedish and they use it often. I hope by “girlfriend” you’re just referring to a female friend. Otherwise her husband is very tolerant (or lucky if you’re also female). ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395/60 "2010-01-14T20:59:07Z")
> [@groman](#): > > 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 can’t recall hearing it often in the Bay Area, including San Jose, not often enough to think it wasn’t imported with the person. Because while you may live in San Jose, you are not _from_ San Jose, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-u-s-is-come-with-used/524395.md?page=4)