reckon

Guest   Thu Jun 29, 2006 4:34 am GMT
Why do British people and US Southerners use this word so much? In other places, people say "I think so." or "I guess so." (less certainty), instead of "I reckon".
Kirk   Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:47 am GMT
<<I have never even heard any British people use it. It seems to be basically rural American, mostly southern rural American now.>>

Actually, it is used pretty commonly in British English. You've never noticed it in British texts? In fact I've even seen it here on this forum by speakers of British English.

<<Why do British people and US Southerners use this word so much? In other places, people say "I think so." or "I guess so." (less certainty), instead of "I reckon".>>

Just with normal language evolution it somehow turned out that "reckon" fell into disuse in most parts of North America except for in the rural south (thus its slight stigma in American English). However, for British speakers it's a completely standard word.
Guest   Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:14 am GMT
>>I have never even heard any British people use it. <<

Ya reckon? Hmm by my reckoning is extremely common.
Guest   Thu Jun 29, 2006 6:15 am GMT
is=it's
Guest   Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:01 am GMT
"reckon" is slang, though, right?
Uriel   Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:38 am GMT
No, it's not slang. Australians seem to use it as often as the British, although it's much less common in general American usage.
Mick   Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:39 am GMT
Depends on your interpretation of 'slang.'

It's a real word, of Germanic origin, meaning to calculate. The modern Geman words 'Rechnen' - to calculate and 'Die Rechnung' - bill (or check, to our American readers) will give you some idea of its etymology.

It's not hard to see how 'I reckon,' meaning I calculate, can also be used to mean 'In my opinion.'

So I don't think it's slang, really - just idiomatic.
Guest   Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:53 pm GMT
Yes, but doesn't it sound kind of cowboyish? Like "darn tootin'", "yee haw", "over yonder".
Kirk   Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:55 pm GMT
<<Yes, but doesn't it sound kind of cowboyish? Like "darn tootin'", "yee haw", "over yonder".>>

Yes, but only to Americans (and probably Canadians--I don't think I've heard Canadians use "reckon" that often either). As I said before, to people from the UK and probably most other English-speaking places "reckon" is a completely standard word no one takes notice of.
Ed   Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:56 am GMT
Yes, I don't think there is anything unusual about the word "reckon", I use it frequently here in the UK. It is a perefectly good Germanic word, related to "rekenaar" and "Rechner", the Afrikaans and German words for computer.
Kirk   Fri Jun 30, 2006 3:17 am GMT
Yeah, "reckon" is related to words about calculation, straightening, ruling and measuring in a lot of European languages, as it comes from the Proto Indo European root *reg- (shows up in Latin "regula" "rex" Sanskrit "rājā" Gaulish "rīx" Ir. Gaellic "ríg/rígh," Welsh "rhi" Farsi "rahst" etc.)

This is what etymonline has to say on the word (from an American perspective):

"O.E. gerecenian "to recount, relate," from W.Gmc. *(ga)rekenojanan (cf. O.Fris. rekenia, M.L.G. rekenen, O.H.G. rehhanon, Ger. rechnen, Goth. rahnjan "to count, reckon"), from P.Gmc. *rakinaz "ready, straightforward," from PIE *reg- "to move in a straight line." "I reckon," used parenthetically, is now dialectal (Southern U.S.), but dates from 1603 and formerly was in literary use (Richardson, etc.). Reckoning is recorded from c.1300."

Interestingly, "reckoning" does not carry the social baggage that "reckon" does in the US.
Guest   Fri Jun 30, 2006 5:14 am GMT
Do British people also use other Southern US words/phrases? Like "I'm fixin' to..." and "ain't"?
Kirk   Fri Jun 30, 2006 5:30 am GMT
<<Do British people also use other Southern US words/phrases? Like "I'm fixin' to..." and "ain't"?>>

I think "fixin' to" is just Southern US but "ain't" is all over the English-speaking world. It likely originated in Britain before the British Empire and then spread to what are now English-speaking areas.
Damian in Edinburgh   Fri Jun 30, 2006 6:23 am GMT
Some people in this Forum reckon they know about current linguistics (and other things besides) here in the UK. I reckon I know better because I reckon I live here and I reckon I will until the day I end up deid.

Here in Scotland (at least and this wee part of it) we use reckon quite a lot. I have in this Forum...check back. Also, if you feel strongly enough about it, check back through the soundtrack of that bloody druggie film "Trainspotting"...I reckon you'll find a trail of reckonings, some of which come from our very own Ewan.

Reckoning usually means something like the final judgment, retribution. People are far more likely to use the Hindu "karma".

"Fixing" is not used here in the American sense, and definitely NOT in the sense of "I'm fixing to go down the pub this lunchtime". Nowhere in the United Neddom do we use that....that just belongs to Alabama or somewhere over there. When we use "fix" it means to repair something that's damaged or to assemble something together.

"Ain't" is used here, and always has been for hundreds of years, almost entirely in England...I reckon. It's part of Cockneyspeak as well as in Ruralspeak in places like the West Country part of England and East Anglia. Check through the books of Thomas Hardy.....you'll find "ain'ts" used by all the Casterbridge bumkins.
Kirk   Fri Jun 30, 2006 6:49 am GMT
<<"Ain't" is used here, and always has been for hundreds of years, almost entirely in England...I reckon. It's part of Cockneyspeak as well as in Ruralspeak in places like the West Country part of England and East Anglia. Check through the books of Thomas Hardy.....you'll find "ain'ts" used by all the Casterbridge bumkins.>>

Yeah I remembered seeing it there. I believe some of Dickens' characters also make extensive use of "ain't."

<<Some people in this Forum reckon they know about current linguistics (and other things besides) here in the UK. I reckon I know better because I reckon I live here and I reckon I will until the day I end up deid.

Here in Scotland (at least and this wee part of it) we use reckon quite a lot. I have in this Forum...check back.>>

Yup--I specifically remember you and others using it multiple times on this forum, which is why Brennus' comment was striking.