In America "indeed is practically a lost word unless your in a very formal situation or a very formal writing. I've seen "indeed" written quite a lot in English novels and I was wondering if you guys still used it commonly in England, Ireland, Scotland, or whatever.
Do people in the UK still use the word "indeed"?
Your right "lost word" was not the proper expression. I'd love to hear from someone across the pond.
OK.....I'm in the Scottish part of the British part of the Across the Pond part.
Indeed is a wee bit formal over here I reckon...it really isn't a word commonly used by ordinary "street people" if you know what I mean. I think its one of those words more often used by people with a higher level of education and a wee bit higher up the social spectrum than your everyday ned.
Like you may hear quaint elderly ladies who "take tea in the afternoon" say "thank you very much indeed" for whatever it is they're in raptures about.
I tell you who uses it a lot over here......anchor people on the news channels. When some correspondent or other has finished their report from some news hotspot, the guy/girl back in the studios will say after the name then: "Thank you very much indeed for that report".
Or a weather reporter will start their slot by saying: "Well, it's been a very cold day indeed today in much of Scotland".
You sometimes hear it used in plays on TV. Someone will reply affirmatively to a question merely by saying "Indeed!" Again, not often used in ordinary day to day chat I don't think...at least, not here in Scotland, or if it is I can't say I've heard it much or at all from memory. What the English English RP lot down in the South of England do I don't really know to be honest with you. Indeed....no doubt I'll find out when I go down there (London) to work for a wee while in mid July onwards.
Now here's a funny bit. Welsh people are reputed to say "Indeed to goodness!", which basically means an expression of surprise. Just before I started this post I was on my mobile with my mate in Wales and I asked him about this particular expression. He said it's just another falsehood put about by the English taking the piss out of the Welsh, another being that all Welsh people say "Look you!" meaning take a look at this.
Andy, who has lived in Wales all his life, told me that nobody, but nobody, in Wales uses those expressions. He put the initial blame on William Shakespeare who created this ridiculous caricature of a Welshman called Fluellen in "Henry V". Shakespeare even made a mess of the real Welsh name Llewellyn by assuming he had got the pronunciation right with Fluellen. The Welsh LL sound is completely beyond the the ability of the Sassenach tongue to get right.
Indeed is a wee bit formal over here I reckon...it really isn't a word commonly used by ordinary "street people" if you know what I mean. I think its one of those words more often used by people with a higher level of education and a wee bit higher up the social spectrum than your everyday ned.
Like you may hear quaint elderly ladies who "take tea in the afternoon" say "thank you very much indeed" for whatever it is they're in raptures about.
I tell you who uses it a lot over here......anchor people on the news channels. When some correspondent or other has finished their report from some news hotspot, the guy/girl back in the studios will say after the name then: "Thank you very much indeed for that report".
Or a weather reporter will start their slot by saying: "Well, it's been a very cold day indeed today in much of Scotland".
You sometimes hear it used in plays on TV. Someone will reply affirmatively to a question merely by saying "Indeed!" Again, not often used in ordinary day to day chat I don't think...at least, not here in Scotland, or if it is I can't say I've heard it much or at all from memory. What the English English RP lot down in the South of England do I don't really know to be honest with you. Indeed....no doubt I'll find out when I go down there (London) to work for a wee while in mid July onwards.
Now here's a funny bit. Welsh people are reputed to say "Indeed to goodness!", which basically means an expression of surprise. Just before I started this post I was on my mobile with my mate in Wales and I asked him about this particular expression. He said it's just another falsehood put about by the English taking the piss out of the Welsh, another being that all Welsh people say "Look you!" meaning take a look at this.
Andy, who has lived in Wales all his life, told me that nobody, but nobody, in Wales uses those expressions. He put the initial blame on William Shakespeare who created this ridiculous caricature of a Welshman called Fluellen in "Henry V". Shakespeare even made a mess of the real Welsh name Llewellyn by assuming he had got the pronunciation right with Fluellen. The Welsh LL sound is completely beyond the the ability of the Sassenach tongue to get right.
***I think its one of those words***
sorry...just testing ...it's "it's".
sorry...just testing ...it's "it's".
Why a formal word would be considered a lost word?
It doesn't make any sense to me.
I don't believe the formal language has the tendancy to disappear, not even in AmE.
It doesn't make any sense to me.
I don't believe the formal language has the tendancy to disappear, not even in AmE.
I use it with some of my friends, but it's kind of a joke, as in there's an awareness that's it's not used that much any more. If we want to agree with something the other says, we say 'Indeed', but kind of stressing the 'deed' bit, as in 'oh yes, absolutely, indeeed'. A bit silly. Actually I don't think I'd be likely to use it in a serious, formal context, although I know some people would.
"Indeed" makes me think of some actor in a British movie or TV series saying, "Ver-ry nice indeed, Mrs. ______!" (I can't remember the name or exactly where I heard it.) If I use the word, it's be for a stage-y effect.
This reminds me of all those small expressions I find in British films and TV shows that supposedly stand for the British way of talking, such as:
-Indeed!
-Quite!
-Surely, that can't be!
-Yes, of course.
-Good, carry on!
-Hear, hear!
-Cheers!
-Fancy a tea, love?
-Elementary, my dear Watson.
-I say!...
-I say, those natives are savages, I tell you, savages! Corporal, open fire!
If there any British persons here, I would fancy some help on this. And excuse me for my pseudo-atempt at writing "british"...
-Indeed!
-Quite!
-Surely, that can't be!
-Yes, of course.
-Good, carry on!
-Hear, hear!
-Cheers!
-Fancy a tea, love?
-Elementary, my dear Watson.
-I say!...
-I say, those natives are savages, I tell you, savages! Corporal, open fire!
If there any British persons here, I would fancy some help on this. And excuse me for my pseudo-atempt at writing "british"...
Yes, a stagey effect sounds right. To me it does sound a bit formal or old-fashioned otherwise.
I wouldn't say that the word INDEED could be labeled "formal" in AmE due to the fact that it's rarely used here in any atmosphere.
However I think that some young americans, Including myself, use INDEED in a foolish or sarcastic way like Aquatar stated; I guess what makes it sound funny --to us-- is the fact that it sounds like something an elder or somebody from the UK would say.
However I think that some young americans, Including myself, use INDEED in a foolish or sarcastic way like Aquatar stated; I guess what makes it sound funny --to us-- is the fact that it sounds like something an elder or somebody from the UK would say.
As a speaker of Hiberno-English (which is a lot closer to British-English than it is to American-English,) I think it's fair to say that certain exclamatory *expressions* sound archaic these days, so I'll go along with "Surely, that can't be!" and 'Quite!' I'll also agree that 'Indeed,' when used in conversation to agree with a statement, sounds stuffy and archaic, but here in Ireland the word 'indeed' still gets a lot of commerce in the following situations:
On the phone:
"Hello, is that Mr Synnott?"
"It is indeed. Can I help you?"
In conversation:
"Are you the guy that's selling the car?"
"I am indeed."
(Incidentally, nobody, but NOBODY in Ireland would say 'It is, to be sure' or 'I am, to be sure," despite what crap comedians and pub joke tellers would have you believe.)
I like Brennus's theory that the usage of 'indeed' in Hiberno-English and Caledonian-English comes from the prevalence of 'gu deimhinn' ('go deimhin' in Ireland) - both pronounced 'guh jevin' - in the original Gaelic. To add weight to that theory, many grammatic constructions from Gaelic have been rendered directly into Hiberno-English giving rise to such clumsy constructions as:
'Where do you be on Wednesday evenings?'
'I do be working.'
Cá bíonn tú gach Céadaoinn sa trathnona?
Bím ag obair.
On the phone:
"Hello, is that Mr Synnott?"
"It is indeed. Can I help you?"
In conversation:
"Are you the guy that's selling the car?"
"I am indeed."
(Incidentally, nobody, but NOBODY in Ireland would say 'It is, to be sure' or 'I am, to be sure," despite what crap comedians and pub joke tellers would have you believe.)
I like Brennus's theory that the usage of 'indeed' in Hiberno-English and Caledonian-English comes from the prevalence of 'gu deimhinn' ('go deimhin' in Ireland) - both pronounced 'guh jevin' - in the original Gaelic. To add weight to that theory, many grammatic constructions from Gaelic have been rendered directly into Hiberno-English giving rise to such clumsy constructions as:
'Where do you be on Wednesday evenings?'
'I do be working.'
Cá bíonn tú gach Céadaoinn sa trathnona?
Bím ag obair.
I forgot to say, that such renderings of Gaelic grammar directly into English are generally done to compensate for an omission in English grammar. In the last example I gave above, the ability to differentiate between the present tense (Where are you today?) and the habitual present (where do you be on Wednesdays?) is elegant and built-in to Gaelic grammar. However, it is clumsy in English as there is no way to directly render the habitual present without qualifying the present tense using auxiliary words like 'usually' (Where are you on Wednesdays usually?') or by cobbling it together by mixing other tenses ('Where do you be on Wednesday?')
I agree with both Mick and Brennus about the use of 'indeed' being related to the Gaelic languages. 'Go cinnte' is used a lot i dTír Chonaill, which carries roughly the same meaning as 'indeed' or 'for sure' etc. (Irish).
Mick wrote:
(Incidentally, nobody, but NOBODY in Ireland would say 'It is, to be sure' or 'I am, to be sure," despite what crap comedians and pub joke tellers would have you believe.)
Me - I've a cousin in Belfast, who uses 'to be sure' a lot, and 'aye' as well. Must be a Northern Irish thing!
Mick wrote:Cá bíonn tú gach Céadaoinn sa trathnona?
Bím ag obair.
Me- Cá mbíonn tú gach Céadaoinn sa thráthnóna?
Regards,
Ben.
Mick wrote:
(Incidentally, nobody, but NOBODY in Ireland would say 'It is, to be sure' or 'I am, to be sure," despite what crap comedians and pub joke tellers would have you believe.)
Me - I've a cousin in Belfast, who uses 'to be sure' a lot, and 'aye' as well. Must be a Northern Irish thing!
Mick wrote:Cá bíonn tú gach Céadaoinn sa trathnona?
Bím ag obair.
Me- Cá mbíonn tú gach Céadaoinn sa thráthnóna?
Regards,
Ben.
Sorry, little typo in my correction - there's no lenition on tráthnóna.
Ben.
Ben.