@ColinTheMathmo has drawn our attention to an interesting ambiguity in English. There seem to be some regional patterns, and I'm curious about prevalence of the two interpretations in different parts of the English-speaking world.
I thought it might be interesting to make a series of polls for different places. Choose based on where you think your dialect of English comes from.
Polls in thread:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from England:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from Scotland:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from Wales:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from Northern Ireland:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from Ireland:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from the USA:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from Canada:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from Australia:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from New Zealand:
If someone says “I just about caught the train”, and your dialect of English comes from India:
Apologies to the English-speaking countries I have forgotten to list. Please leave a comment if you're from one of them.
@robinhouston I observe that it might in the longer run be necessary to distinguish areas of the US, and areas within England.
But this is a start to see what happens.
@ColinTheMathmo @robinhouston I don't think there's any need to distinguish areas of the US here; no one on my side of the pond would interpret that to mean they caught the train.
@ajsoley You seem very certain of that. But some people in the UK are adamant that everyone in the UK would say they caught the train, and yet I know people who say otherwise.
Why are you so absolutely certain that *everyone* in the US would say they missed the train? Is it just because of your certainly, and the certainly of those you know?
@ColinTheMathmo @robinhouston Well, early results are unanimous, but "just about" is a very common phrase which means "nearly". It's not over there?
@ColinTheMathmo @robinhouston E.g. the Simpsons: "Marge, just about everything is a sin. You ever sat down and read this thing? Technically, we're not allowed to go to the bathroom." Or Seinfeld: "Mr. Kramer, just about every week some brash young hothead like yourself saunters in here..." It always means "nearly". I'm curious to see an example from UK media where it doesn't.
@ajsoley @ColinTheMathmo @robinhouston To me those usages DO mean "nearly", but in the example in the question the man DID catch the train. Don't ask me "why". I speak British English (from England)
