usualhopeful, yes, I agree, I have not heard “must fixed” either.
The Yale site has information on the use of “needs [participle],” “wants [participle],” and likes [participle]." Apparently, there is a “hierarchy” in their usage, in that speakers who use the third also use the first and second; speakers who use the second also use the first, but may or may not use the third; and speakers who use the first may or may not use the second and the third forms.
A different category of regionalism that I cannot explain is the use of “might could.”
I frequently worked in London. I used to say that New Yorkers were rude to your face, but they had your back. Brits were polite to your face, but I knew as I boarded the return flight that nastygrams were zinging across the ocean (and not just from the 2 women I had unintentionally propositioned :)) ).
Interesting - to want (wollen) and to like (mögen) are modal verbs the same way “must” is. They function as “[subject] [modal verb] [infinitive].” (e.g. “Ich will trinken” = "I want to drink). However, German infinitives don’t have “to” the way we do in English (“to do,” etc.) (although there are cases where you use “[to] [infinitiv]”).
We lived in Cincinnati for 6 months and I remember the first time checking out at the grocery store I said something the clerk did not quite hear and she looked at me and said “Please”. Totally threw me - I said “Please what?” - she had to explain she didn’t hear me. I would expect “Excuse me or Come Again or I’m Sorry” but that is the first (and last) time I’ve had someone say “please” when they wanted me to repeat something.
I think people are pretty much the same the world over. Just the cultural norms are different. When all the grandmamas and mamas raise the kids to not dare “be ugly” politeness becomes a norm. When people really follow those instructions, they aren’t ugly behind someone’s back either. I always found it impossible to live up to the standards we were set, but I think they are a very lovely and useful ideal.
I worked for a Midwest-based company whose parent company bought an East Coast-based company and merged the two. So we had a lot of meetings with the East Coast folks. It really stunned some of the Midwesterners how the East Coast folks could disagree vehemently on a business topic in a meeting and then say - hey, it’s lunchtime, want to go grab lunch? The Midwesterners tended to dance around their disagreements, which sometimes tesulted in things not being said that upper management needed to hear.
"Just the cultural norms are different. When all the grandmamas and mamas raise the kids to not dare “be ugly” politeness becomes a norm. "
Mama is an interesting word. To me, it connotes a very earth mother-y, stout in an apron, somewhat overwhelmed woman who has very little identity outside her children. i would never have had my kids call me that! Mommy (when they were little) or Mom. I know it doesn’t connote that to other people and it’s very popular among young mothers of today so maybe this is my own interpretation.
Here’s one that I only heard in Texas and is kind of appropriate, since it’s what southerners (the polite ones, anyway) are typically trying to avoid when they’re doing that mealy-mouthed bit:
“Rolling around in the dirt”, which means taking offense enough to say… no more.
I’ve lived most of my life in the Midwest, rural and urban, and I’ve never once heard anyone here say, “It needs fixed” or “The lawn needs mowed.” I have heard that construction in Pennsylvania. Perhaps it’s drifted from there into parts of Ohio I don’t frequent, but Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota? No way. My guess is it came from the Pennsylvania Dutch, old-line German (Deutsch) immigrants who lived in somewhat isolated rural Pennsylvania communities for many generations, probably arriving speaking various German dialects that may not have strictly conformed to proper literary German, “hoch Desutsch,” and may have evolved separately over the generations. So I wouldn’t place too much weight on contemporary proper German grammar in parsing this out.
If someone’s doing well in their area, my kids say that person is “winning at life” or “crushing it”. I must admit, I fit those expressions into conversations ironically sometimes ; )
@Nrdsb4, I’ve heard the phrase in relation to a car that was driven hard and not well maintained, eg, when a mechanic counsels against buying a used car.
I’m in Indiana and “to be” is definitely most often omitted in my area… Needs fixed, needs mowed, needs washed, needs sprayed (corn and bean fields), oil need changed, etc.
Put up toys or put up (can) food is common. MIL used to say “ret things out” (de-clutter). My grandpa’s was “lazy man’s load” (carrying too much at once).
I enjoy hearing the expressions from around the country. I don’t like communications quite as gruff as the NE, but I also find it exhausting trying to figure out what southerners are thinking or meaning. I’d rather know where people truly stand.
I was imagining it sorta meant: “if you lie down with dogs,…”
eta; “Mama” is just regional speak for Mother. No more, no less. Where I’m from everyone is brought up to respect all the mamas. At least, I believe that is correct.