Are some colloquial words seeped in History

[sweetdexter]

My wife being Canadian asked me how we came to use "our" when referring to family members,our Ted,our Pat etc.

I could not give her a definitive answer.

I have just finished reading (Listening to audio book) Sails on the Horizon by Jay Worrall.

Jay Worrall was brought up a Quaker,one of the characters in the book is a Quaker,other members of the sect refer to her as "Our Penny"

I wonder if this is the derivation of "our" when we use it.

[DUFFEMS]

I always understood that it was because so many Victorian families were large and, often first names were repeated in each generation. By referring to "our" it meant from their own generation. e.g. my grandfather was one of 12 children, he had uncles bearing the same name as his siblings so would refer to his sibling as "our" as opposed to his uncle.

 

Regards,

Duffems

[beezerboy]

I always understood that it was because so many Victorian families were large and, often first names were repeated in each generation. By referring to "our" it meant from their own generation. e.g. my grandfather was one of 12 children, he had uncles bearing the same name as his siblings so would refer to his sibling as "our" as opposed to his uncle.

 

Regards,

Duffems

 

That,s right. It,s our Jacks dog chasing your Jacks cat down their Jacks garden path.Does that help ????? It,s worth the trip to our place

Edited November 28, 2014 by beezerboy
after thought

[scousemouse]

A friend of mine NEVER just refers to her family just by their names, it is always our xx. Even refers to the dog as our Ben!!!!

[Vasquez Rich]

I am sure this started when villages got so big that there was 2 Johns, Williams or Berts etc..

 

Try it up Newcastle, everyone is "Wor"

 

Richard

[Boginspro]

I don't know why but I still use the term, our Tommy is the cat, my brother was always our kid even though he was older than me. It is a useful distinction in place of a surname.

[Ms Macbeth]

I'd never heard it before I left Scotland, and I found it strange when we first moved to Yorkshire. However, I'm used to it now, although its never been part of our family's language.

 

I've noticed fewer people who are from Sheffield and surrounds are using it now, perhaps because families are getting smaller, and names aren't being passed down generations as they used to be.

[kris99]

I don't know why but I still use the term, our Tommy is the cat, my brother was always our kid even though he was older than me. It is a useful distinction in place of a surname.

 

I've heard lots of men in Sheffield use the term "our lass" or alternatively "our owd lass" meaning their wives.

[ArhLass]

In our family 'our lass' is a wife or the blokes sister (aka 'siss')

'our old lass' is what the blokes call their mams when talking about them.

(They get a skutch if they say it in front of their Mam!)

[soft ayperth]

In my family, "our" was used across generations, but from the top down. So, my grandparents, aunts and uncles would refer to me as "our" Archie (not my real name). As a child, I called my brother "our" Fred (again, a pseudonym), but I wouldn't call members of my family's preceding generations (aunts, uncles, grandparents etc) "our." But, we did call the family dog "our" Fido. It's a nice expression because it conveys a sense of belonging.