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Hi, everyone,
I have read a very interesting article, which was written by an English mother of two whose children took part in a student exchange programme.
She put two Italian girls up in her home, and in return, her two daughters could spend a couple of weeks in Italy. She writes that the Italian girls' English was a revelation. She doesn't mean to say that it was perfect, but that they used expressions that are no longer used in Britain. I was a bit surprised when I was reading her example.
She says the following: one of the girls said "Here you are" when handing a cup of tea to one of the family's neighbours. The English parents and the neighbour were absolutely flabbergasted; they almost fell down their chairs. They were also surprised by the Italian girls' habit of calling the members of the host family, say, Mr and Mrs Johnson instead of John and Sue.
Is "here you are" really ridiculously out-of-date nowadays in Britain? Well, I know that "there you go", which is originally an American expression (as far as I know), is more common in today's Britain, especially in colloquial speech. When I'm in England I usually use the latter expression among friends. However, this expression is not very much loved or even accepted by (university, primary and secondary school) teachers in our country, therefore I use "here you are" when talking to my them. I wouldn't use "there you go" in font of them, because it sounds a bit like Estuary to me. I know that there is no problem with EE but it is not yet accepted by many teachers of EFL (methodology).
So, my question is: Would I, as a non-native speaker of English, be laughed at (Heaven forbid) ridiculed for using that expression? Would they say: Oh, this is a foreigner (Well, they would notice it easily otherwise, since my English isn't as good as it should be... :))
Or what about calling my host "parents" on their surnames?
Thanks in advance.
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Sorry. There is "or" between "laughed at" and "(Heaven forbid) ridiculed". I'm always leaving out words! It's annoying! :(
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Hmm--"here you are" while serving something to someone sounds completely natural and current to me. In fact, I'd probably be more likely to say it than "there you go" in a serving context. But I'm a native speaker from the US so I can't speak for the UK.
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That's good news, Kirk, even though you don't speak for the UK :)
And other mistakes in my post: "fell off" not fell down and "talking to them" not "to my them". At first, I wanted to write "to my teachers" and hence the mistake... Maybe, the weather is too hot :) and it's having a bad impact on my English :(
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I agree with Kirk that "here you are" is perfectly acceptable, and even better than "there you go," at least in the United States. I hear "there you go" used to mean, "well, that worked out well, didn't it" more often then in the context you said.
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Liz,
Hello. "Here you are" and "There you go" are timeless expressions in the English language for saying "I'm giving this to you" and have nothing to do with being British or American. Every language has a colloquial equivalent of some kind. In Spanish, when giving something to someone they say Aquí está! (Lit. "Here it is!) and in Irish Gaelic, they say Seo dhuit! (Lit. "This to you!) etc.
Re: "Mr and Mrs Johnson " ... Mr. and Mrs. are courtesy titles which really should be used before a surname if you don't know the person, or know him very well.
In the 1960's and 70's it started becoming fashionable to address people by their first names instead of using the traditional Mr. & Mrs. probably on the assumption that it sounded more friendly and egalitarian.
Some may disagree, but I think that this is wrong. I subscribe to the old school on this one... that if you don't know a person or know him very well, you should not call him by his first name. For instance, it sounds strange when I hear two men debating each other on the "News Hour With Jim Leher" calling each other by their first names when they obviously don't know each other or like each other.
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It's news to me that "here you are" has fallen out of use anywhere.
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I'm British (although I obviously can't claim to 'speak for the UK'!) and 'here you are' sounds perfectly natural and normal to me. I can't imagine why the host family were 'flabbergasted'. Sounds like a silly over-reaction to me.
As for calling them Mr and Mrs Johnson: it's perfectly normal to call people by their first names in the UK, but again I don't know why anyone would be surprised to be called 'Mr and Mrs Johnson'. When you're talking to people much older than you are, it's polite to call them by the last name until you're invited to use the first name. I imagine that my parents would probably be quite annoyed if people decades younger than they are called them 'Bob and Mary' (for example) without being invited, but as for me, I would never expect anyone to call me 'Ms Smith'.
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***It's news to me that "here you are" has fallen out of use anywhere***
Och, well......there ye go!
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<<I can't imagine why the host family were 'flabbergasted'. Sounds like a silly over-reaction to me.>>
Definitely!!!
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Yeah, I say here you are all the time and always call people by Mr. and Mrs. unless they say to do otherwise.
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Thanks for your reply.
I was rather sceptical about this piece of writing. I thought maybe the world has changed a lot recently (in the past five years - because nobody was surprised when I used that phrase that time, and I heard even native speakers using it)...
I couldn't imagine that it was possible. But I wanted to hear (see) your thoughts about it since I'm a non-native speaker of English, and because I don't live currently in the UK.
By the way, I almost forgot to mention that the most shocking of the whole story was the following sentence (I cant't quote it because the book in which I have found the article is not here, but it was something like that):
When it happens (meaning: foreigners saying "Here you are") I have to explain again and again that this phrase has long been replaced by "There you go" in the UK, and everyone knows it except for those who are living on the Mars or in a monastery.
Outrageous, isn't it?
Anyway, I'm glad to see that you you all have the same opinion of this issue. Maybe, I'm not that old fashoned...
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old fashoned = old-fashioned
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And then there's another variant, "Here you go," which I think I use more often than "Here you are".
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