|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
My grandmother (from the South of Scotland) used to say much the same thing: "Who's she? The cat's mother?" Quinion has a note on the expression at http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-cat1.htmBingley
Bingley
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
My Grandmother used the "cat's mother" phrase when I was a child - in the 1930s - and she was born right here in USA although she was of Irish descent. We used Himself to mean my Father and Herself for my Mother, but not to his/her face!! The Himself and Herself were later used to mean the "Top Dog" in any situation. I *once heard an employee of the company - of which my Dad was general manager - refer to my Dad as Himself.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
|
addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
My mother (Polish but not from Poland) had the same aversion to using he or she when speaking of an older person - wasn't respectful enough, particularly for one's parents. Maybe a generational thing? Or do young(ish) people (ie, under 60 ) feel the same?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
My paternal grandmother of German descent (Alsace-Lorraine, so there's prolly some French & Italian in there, too) used to react the same way to those pronouns. "Who's she!?" she'd always emphatically correct. Even if we had indicated the person just previously, and especially if it was my Mom or someone of authority to a child.
us: "Mom said we could sat up late. And she said we could watch the movie, too."
Grandmom: "Who's she!"
This always left us pretty confused for an answer.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Thanks for putting up the Cat Stevens song, Juan. On the other side of the pond, I was listening to it on the radio as I drove north from Cork to Ennis.
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,580
Members9,187
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
332
guests, and
0
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
|