January 30, 2009, 10:54
<Proofreader>Borrow
On several occasions, over the last month, I've heard people on court shows seeking redress for finances they've disbursed to assorted degenerates in their family. Many used a word in a way I would not consider normal.
John says he gave his brother Jim $400. "I borrowed Jim $400 and he didn't pay me back."
Obviously it is Jim who "borrowed" the money, which John "loaned" to him. I would have thought it an error except at least four different people used "borrow" that way on three separate occasions.
Is this just ignorance or a local usage?
January 30, 2009, 11:03
BobHaleIt's quite a common confusion. It's certainly a non standard usage but I've heard it many times. I had a colleague who used borrow and lend the wrong way round consistently. I used to drive him as crazy with my replies as he drove me with his usage. Conversations of the form
"Can you borrow me a pencil?"
"Certainly, who shall I borrow it from?"
and
"Can I lend your pencil?"
"That depends who you want to lend it to."
were frequently exchanged in our corner of the office.
January 30, 2009, 11:30
<Proofreader>quote:
"Can you borrow me a pencil?"
"Certainly, who shall I borrow it from?"
and
"Can I lend your pencil?"
"That depends who you want to lend it to."
There's some crossed wiring in there.
January 30, 2009, 11:31
goofyIt's a regional variant found in the Northern area west of the Great Lakes, according to MWDEU.
January 30, 2009, 12:10
zmježd It's quite a common confusion.Probably because the Old English verb from which
borrow is descended,
borgian meant both
to borrow and
to lend (A-H *bhergh- 'hide, protect'
link whence also
bury,
bargain, Bosworth-Toller
link).
This is a common enough linguistic occurrence in the semantics of verbs and nouns of reciprocity in Indo-European and other languages. Cf. Sanskrit
gam 'to go', Latin
venio 'come', Greek βαινω
bainō 'come', English
come, etc.
January 30, 2009, 20:19
goofyGerman "borgen" means both "borrow" and "lend".
January 31, 2009, 21:33
Kallehquote:
Probably because the Old English verb from which borrow is descended, borgian meant both to borrow and to lend
That's interesting because those words are opposites really. I can't say I've heard "borrow" used to mean "lend." Perhaps it's a regionalism?
February 01, 2009, 00:36
<texhenge>This sort of expression, with many verbs, is fairly common in the South and Southwest of the USA. "That'll learn you a thang or two about regionalisms!"
February 01, 2009, 02:03
arnieI've seen the expression used in several regional dialects in the UK, too.
February 01, 2009, 02:15
tinmanquote:
Originally posted by Kalleh:
That's interesting because those words are opposites really. I can't say I've heard "borrow" used to mean "lend." Perhaps it's a regionalism?
I don't hear it often, but I have heard it. Using
borrow for
lend was one of the usages my high school teachers used to rail against. A guy at work used to say things like "Borry me a dollar" all the time. He was from South Dakota.