<p>Dear Mr Principle, You made a spelling mistake!</p>
<p>Umm, what’s wrong with “the dishes need washed”?</p>
<p>We also grew up with “turn it upside right” and “turn your shirt inside right”. I once asked an English professor about it and she said that in some areas people say “throw the cow over the fence some hay”. It’s colorful local colloquialisms. </p>
<p>People also massively butcher sayings which used to actually have meanings people could relate to, such as “For all intents and purposes” (now commonly “for all intensive purposes”).</p>
<p>ETA: mamabear, since many ancestors came from SW PA, perhaps that explains the odd usage! “The dishes need washed” sounds perfectly natural to me…</p>
<p>slipjig - It is not specifically related to level of education, because he has a doctorate and I have a mere BS and I know the correct word. I don’t believe it’s a case of misspelling, I think it’s not really knowing the word being used, and making one’s best guess. It’s like everyone using ‘of’ now instead of ‘have’ - they have no clue what word they’re trying to use. </p>
<p>Many, many, many years ago my high school AP English teacher was fanatical about grammar - we used to giggle when she’d tell us “bust is only a noun, not a verb”. Ah, the innocence of youth back in the day! And probably these days, ‘bust’ is also a verb per the dictionary, I don’t know. </p>
<p>I just expect a certain level of pride and accuracy in messages from an educational institution. </p>
<p>True story - I was in an elementary school in a very well-to-do district last year (that little tidbit is so you understand that they have the resources to be selective and hire the best teachers they can find.) The second grade teacher was teaching her kids about syllables. She was teaching that ‘hunger’ was a one syllable word! “hungr - see, your chin doesn’t move” I’m sorry, but since when???</p>
<p>Very frustrating…</p>
<p>Mama…my parents are from SW PA, so that explains why I couldn’t understand what was wrong with ‘the dishes need washed’. I’ve heard that my whole life!</p>
<p>2TxAgs… challenge! no way… perhaps you misunderstood? … yafsm!! LOL!</p>
<p>I was born and raised in the mid-Atlantic but spent 5 years in central-western PA. The habitual dropping of ‘to be’ drove me nuts. Other words were odd to get used to but that was one of the biggest I can remember. I’m sure I had plenty of speech patterns they considered odd as well. They don’t get many ‘transplants’.</p>
<p>yafsm?..</p>
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<p>Level of education is one thing. Where the degree is earned is often more important. In the world of education, there are plenty of academic factories that target and produce the mediocre future educators. Horrible professors, watered-down programs, easy grading, and lack of substance are common denominators. </p>
<p>Inability to read, write, or speak at an advanced level is rarely a requirement to be a teacher or an administrator.</p>
<p>Oh no, NJ, she repeated it several times - one syllable, see how my chin doesn’t move? It was like she was trying to convince herself as well as the kids… </p>
<p>I was a guest in the classroom, preparing my materials, so I stayed completely silent and kept my mouth shut, but I was beyond shocked!</p>
<p>It turns out that Grammar Girl, one of my favorite podcasters, covered the “needs washed” phenom in a piece about Pittsburghese. The construction originated in Scotland/Northern Ireland and is used throughout the North Midland states, where the weather is inclimate. </p>
<p>[Grammar</a> Girl : Needs Washed :: Quick and Dirty Tips](<a href=“http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/needs-washed.aspx]Grammar”>http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/needs-washed.aspx)</p>
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<p>I try not to sweat the small stuff, but if a high school principal or anyone involved in secondary education said “i seen something,” I would have a real problem with that.</p>
<p>I think you might come off the wrong way if you try to correct it. I’m sure they would receive it graciously but it’s really not that big of a deal. No one likes people who nitpick.</p>
<p>^^^We don’t always have to be liked.</p>
<p>I have never heard anyone say “needs washed.” Interesting. I have heard people say “might could.” It used to grate on my mother when people would say “I’m fixin’ to go to the store.” That’s a common one where I live.</p>
<p>I purchased several packages of promotional pencils from Staples that were to be sent to Panama by my younger son’s Spanish class. There were different inspirational messages on the pencils, but the one I could not believe was “Your A Star”. Hoping it was just a random one-off, I checked another Staples store in the next town and unfortunately found “Your A Star” sold there also.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned the Grammar Girl site/blog. While I enjoy her posts, I find Snarky Student’s Guide to Grammar much more entertaining. She seems to have slowed down lately, although she may be a he.</p>
<p>Last comment: after being dragged along on many college tours, my 13 year old announced that we will have to stop judging a college by the grammar of the tour guides and Info Session speakers.</p>
<p>We know a kid who refused to go to a school because the guide on the accepted-students tour used the word “conveniency” three times.</p>
<p>I found this one unbelievable. My D recently was accepted to U Mass Amherst. This was the message that was displayed on her online account: </p>
<p>“As of January 9, 2013, the status of your application is:
admitted to your first choice major.(click hear for more info) - School of Management .”</p>
<p>This came a couple of weeks after an email that decisions for U Mass “Amhest” would be released in mid December. </p>
<p>Pretty bad when a college cannot even spell their own name correctly or use the correct “here”!</p>
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<p>And in Southcentral PA as well - the lawn needs mowed, the snow needs shoveled, the dog needs fed…still sounds a little odd to my native NJ ear, but not uneducated.</p>
<p>Spellcheck has always seemed a double-edged sword to me; the more I depend on corrections, the more I realize I depend on corrections.</p>
<p>The house needs painted…</p>
<p>I’ve always thought it was a Germanism, via the “Pennsylvania Dutch” or Amish. Really surprised me the first time I heard it, but it’s a colloquialism, not a grammar error, IMO.</p>
<p>Maybe we could get a group discount? [Silently</a> Correcting Your Grammar T-Shirt by teeshirtshoppe](<a href=“http://www.cafepress.com/mf/63940692/silently-correcting-your-grammar_tshirt]Silently”>grammar1 Women's Value T-Shirt Silently Correcting Your Grammar Women's Dark T-Sh | CafePress)</p>
<p>I am with you all. I’ve thought of sending corrections back, HRH. I’ve thought of doing so many times. I gave you rep points (as in, green box points) and spelled would without a D. Ah, the irony. I do wonder why so many people can’t spell, especially with auto spell checks… Yes, the dishes need washed is one I’ve heard. Happily ‘ain’t’ isn’t as common as it was years ago.</p>