Dear X

[pfflyerhot]

Just found out yesterday my brother died. Yeah I didn't get told by my family.
I had to find out on the fucking internet. They fucking wouldn't tell me. Who in the hell keeps secrets like that. He died four months ago and I had no idea. Didn't even get to reconcile with him. Our relationship was not perfect. He wasn't perfect that's for sure. He got in trouble with the law even though he was a cop just like our dad. And he had issues with drinking and jealously. But still he was my brother. The only one I've ever had. And now he's gone. Plus on top of it I find out my niece who i haven't seen since she was 14 has not only gotten married but is having a baby. It's like I'm not good enough to be kept in the loop about things. And you wonder why I don't talk to the likes of any of you. Because you keep doing this shit. And now thanks to keeping it a secret that my only brother is dead I have to mourn for him amongst everything else. Thanks a hell of a lot assholes.

So sorry for your loss. I must say... people can, and will, indeed, be assholes, but family ... keeping the death (or birth) of a close family member... a secret from another family member is... I dunno. It's fucked up.
My heart goes out to you... Or... if you need a place to vent, I will listen...

 

[Azuldrgon]

Just found out yesterday my brother died. Yeah I didn't get told by my family.
I had to find out on the fucking internet. They fucking wouldn't tell me. Who in the hell keeps secrets like that. He died four months ago and I had no idea. Didn't even get to reconcile with him. Our relationship was not perfect. He wasn't perfect that's for sure. He got in trouble with the law even though he was a cop just like our dad. And he had issues with drinking and jealously. But still he was my brother. The only one I've ever had. And now he's gone. Plus on top of it I find out my niece who i haven't seen since she was 14 has not only gotten married but is having a baby. It's like I'm not good enough to be kept in the loop about things. And you wonder why I don't talk to the likes of any of you. Because you keep doing this shit. And now thanks to keeping it a secret that my only brother is dead I have to mourn for him amongst everything else. Thanks a hell of a lot assholes.

*hugs*

I had the same thing happen with my dad. The only comfort I can offer is *hugs*

 

[BradBigBrain]

Dear Breads from the local bakery,

I love you. One of you is spicy and tasty and great with chili and soup and I could eat you whole. The other of you is so sweet and delicious. I love you with honey/nut cream cheese. I don't think I can ever go back to regular bread again. You've got me that spoiled. Please never leave me,

Your Lover

 

[Twlightdreamer]

Dear Bossman,

We're friends- or at least we used to be friends. Thanks for turning into every other boss I've ever worked for. You've become tempermental, untrusting, and manipulative. Your wife gets pissy with your coworkers? Guess what? I don't want to hear it- not after the shit you've been pulling lately. Besides, it's your own damn fault you don't drag your ass home on time- you're the one who decides to stay late. I don't appreciate being told the day before I'm off that I need to be back here at 6pm for a meeting... wtf? A lil' more notice would have been great. It's not like I'm making my Mother-in-law's birthday cake or spending the entire day with my inlaws. Nope... I was just going to sit around the house and stare at the fucking wall thinking about work- which it seems is all you do sometimes. You know what? Fuck you and the goddamned horse you rode into town on.

 

[lexieredefined]

Dear Other Person's Incompetent Assistant,

When canceling a meeting, you notify the attendees NOT their assistants. My assistant is out this week. Therefore I didn't know the meeting was canceled. Turns out neither did two other people. (One was a VIP. He was not happy, I assure you.) Feel free to CC people's assistants on the cancelation email, but notify the attendees.

Be glad you aren't my assistant. Then again, my assistant wouldn't fuck up like that.

Signed,
One Extremely Pissed Off Person Who Came In From Working From Home Just To Attend This Meeting

 

[someoneyouknow]

Dear Customers of the Cable Company,

Stereotypes exist for a reason. Just keep doing what you're doing to keep those stereotypes alive.

Waiting for you to get your act together

 

[themilf]

Dear Customers of the Cable Company,

Stereotypes exist for a reason. Just keep doing what you're doing to keep those stereotypes alive.

Waiting for you to get your act together

Similarly,

Dear "Manrey",

You were hired by the cable/Internet company to do technical support and I was calling to confirm my suspicions about why my Internet speed was slow.
You offered to upgrade my speed to 100 MBPS. The way you SAID "MBPS" led me to believe you didn't know what you were talking about. I asked if that was "up or down" and you didn't know there WAS an up or down.

It was an entertaining 15 minutes.
Thanks for the info and support!

 

[someoneyouknow]

Dear cat,

We've lived together for a long time, ever since I took you in from the cold, cruel world and gave you a warm home to lay about. Now that the years have gone by, I would like to ask you a rather personal question. What the hell are you eating when I'm out?

Every time you use your litter box it's like chemical warfare. Even holding my breath doesn't help as whatever it is you're eating permeates through my skin and I must evacuate from the area. We know that all poop stinks, but when I can smell it from 30+ feet away, what the hell?!

The one who cleans up after you

 

[rick_j21]

Dear random messaging dude,

Just because I post a really hot picture of two nude males, does not mean I want to watch you stroke off on cam or even chat with you about it.

Thank you.

 

[Kat73]

Dear X,

If you could stop being such a judgemental bitch, you might see what is right in front of you...

Someone who cares

 

[Scentofawoman]

Dear Abba fan

Sometimes ABBA does say it best...

They passed me by, all of those great romances
You were, I felt, robbing me of my rightful chances
My picture clear, everything seemed so easy
And so I dealt you the blow

One of us had to go
Now it's different, I want you to know

One of us is crying
One of us is lying in her lonely bed
Staring at the ceiling
Wishing she was somewhere else instead

One of us is lonely
One of us is only waiting for a call
Sorry for herself, feeling stupid, feeling small
Wishing she had never left at all


Crooning ABBA regretfully

 

[Pinktacokitty]

Dear Pm guy with less than .18 post per day for two years.

I know he was lucky, no need to pm me and tell me.........


Someone that knows......

 

[Luvitharder]

X,

Most of the time I am so angry with you... I cannot even breathe. I know it will pass, but when?

 

[cowslinger64]

Dear cat,

We've lived together for a long time, ever since I took you in from the cold, cruel world and gave you a warm home to lay about. Now that the years have gone by, I would like to ask you a rather personal question. What the hell are you eating when I'm out?

Every time you use your litter box it's like chemical warfare. Even holding my breath doesn't help as whatever it is you're eating permeates through my skin and I must evacuate from the area. We know that all poop stinks, but when I can smell it from 30+ feet away, what the hell?!

The one who cleans up after you

Dear X...


that was hilarious...sorry for your pain tho.

 

[lakesailer_mi]

Dear D,

It's been a long year and I know it's had it's ups and downs for you. You ricochete from highs to lows so fast, I really can't keep up. You say "I'm not doing as well as you think" and that worries me, because I don't think you're doing very well. But, I also think that maybe, you're finally starting to realize you need to fix these problems, and that you need some help to do that, and that the problems aren't going to suddenly go away. The first step in any recovery is to finally admit you have a problem and that it's out of your control. I think you're close to that now, maybe even there.

I hope the healing can really begin soon.

Your D

 

[veryviolet1]

Dearest island dweller,

I miss you. I miss our talks, I miss your thongs, I miss our playtime. I wish you all the best. Stay well my friend.


Your Vi

 

[themilf]

Dear Mr. or Mrs. Grammar Person...

This sounds wrong to me, I cannot STAND this but maybe it’s me, maybe I’m wrong.
Can anyone, Mr. and Ms. Grammar Person included explain to me whether this sentence structure is correct?

Isn’t there something missing in these sentences?* I makes my SKIN crawl when I hear this…
*
The dog needs walked.
*
Some kinks need worked out.
*
The plant needs watered.
*
The blouse needs ironed.
*
Shouldn’t it be “the dog needs TO BE walked”, “some kinks need TO BE worked out”, etc?
*
I am simply unable to recall the “rule” that suggests this and hey, as long as I’m on a rant – help me out with this one too, please.
*
When* I am going to an event and rain is expected, which is correct?* I am taking an umbrella.* I am bringing an umbrella.
*
And similarly – I am taking a casserole.* I am bringing a casserole.*
*
This was one my Mom and I would chat about and we never DID figure out which was considered correct.

 

[boutrosboutros]

This sounds wrong to me, I cannot STAND this but maybe it’s me, maybe I’m wrong.
Can anyone, Mr. and Ms. Grammar Person included explain to me whether this sentence structure is correct?

Isn’t there something missing in these sentences?* I makes my SKIN crawl when I hear this…
*
The dog needs walked.
*
Some kinks need worked out.
*
The plant needs watered.
*
The blouse needs ironed.
*
Shouldn’t it be “the dog needs TO BE walked”, “some kinks need TO BE worked out”, etc?
*
I am simply unable to recall the “rule” that suggests this and hey, as long as I’m on a rant – help me out with this one too, please.
*
When* I am going to an event and rain is expected, which is correct?* I am taking an umbrella.* I am bringing an umbrella.
*
And similarly – I am taking a casserole.* I am bringing a casserole.*
*
This was one my Mom and I would chat about and we never DID figure out which was considered correct.

The rule is that those are the passive forms of the verb, so they need "to be" in there.

 

[BradBigBrain]

This sounds wrong to me, I cannot STAND this but maybe it’s me, maybe I’m wrong.
Can anyone, Mr. and Ms. Grammar Person included explain to me whether this sentence structure is correct?

Isn’t there something missing in these sentences?* I makes my SKIN crawl when I hear this…
*
The dog needs walked.
*
Some kinks need worked out.
*
The plant needs watered.
*
The blouse needs ironed.
*
Shouldn’t it be “the dog needs TO BE walked”, “some kinks need TO BE worked out”, etc?
*
I am simply unable to recall the “rule” that suggests this and hey, as long as I’m on a rant – help me out with this one too, please.
*
When* I am going to an event and rain is expected, which is correct?* I am taking an umbrella.* I am bringing an umbrella.
*
And similarly – I am taking a casserole.* I am bringing a casserole.*
*
This was one my Mom and I would chat about and we never DID figure out which was considered correct.

This is a western PA/Eastern Ohio regionalism.

It’s not limited to the word “needs” either. People in those regions may also form sentence this way with the verb “likes” or “wants.” For example, “The dog wants walked,” and “The dog likes petted” instead of “The dog wants to be walked,” and “The dog likes to be petted.”

Infinitival Copula Deletion

For those of you who are curious or want to do your own research, professor Barbara Johnstone, who studies Pittsburghese at Carnegie Mellon, calls the phenomenon “infinitival copula deletion.” “To be” is a copula, also known as a linking verb, in its infinitive form.

Blame the Scots-Irish

But let’s get to the fun part! Why do people talk like that? Where does it come from? As with many regional dialects, it has to do with migration patterns.

The “needs washed” construction is common in Scotland and Northern Ireland according to both linguists and a few Scottish and Irish respondents to my question, and when southwestern Pennsylvania was first settled by Europeans in the late 1600s and early 1700s, most of the settlers were Scots-Irish, a group of people with Scottish heritage who had settled for a few generations in the Ulster region of Northern Ireland. Not surprisingly, they brought their language--or what we might call quirks--with them.

As to why the Scots-Irish so long ago said their horses “need washed,” I haven’t been able to find a source that says why, and that’s unfortunately common when you’re investigating dialects. Eventually, you get to a point where all you can find is “the earlier people or the people who populated the region spoke that way.”

Needs washed article.

 

[Sexyladykate]

This sounds wrong to me, I cannot STAND this but maybe it’s me, maybe I’m wrong.
Can anyone, Mr. and Ms. Grammar Person included explain to me whether this sentence structure is correct?

Isn’t there something missing in these sentences?* I makes my SKIN crawl when I hear this…
*
The dog needs walked.
*
Some kinks need worked out.
*
The plant needs watered.
*
The blouse needs ironed.
*
Shouldn’t it be “the dog needs TO BE walked”, “some kinks need TO BE worked out”, etc?
*
I am simply unable to recall the “rule” that suggests this and hey, as long as I’m on a rant – help me out with this one too, please.
*
When* I am going to an event and rain is expected, which is correct?* I am taking an umbrella.* I am bringing an umbrella.
*
And similarly – I am taking a casserole.* I am bringing a casserole.*
*
This was one my Mom and I would chat about and we never DID figure out which was considered correct.

For the last one, I would think it depends upon your audience. If you are talking to someone who is already at the location, "I am bringing a casserole" would be more correct. If you are talking to someone with you about somewhere you are going, "I am taking a casserole" would be more correct. I say 'more correct' because I'm not convinced that either would be flat out wrong.

 

[boutrosboutros]

For the last one, I would think it depends upon your audience. If you are talking to someone who is already at the location, "I am bringing a casserole" would be more correct. If you are talking to someone with you about somewhere you are going, "I am taking a casserole" would be more correct. I say 'more correct' because I'm not convinced that either would be flat out wrong.

"Bringing" is a really weird word when you look at it for a long time.

 

[Sexyladykate]

"Bringing" is a really weird word when you look at it for a long time.

I had that same thought yesterday about "surrender."

 

[boutrosboutros]

I had that same thought yesterday about "surrender."

The first 'e' looks wrong.

 

[blulilacgrl]

The rule is that those are the passive forms of the verb, so they need "to be" in there.

This is a western PA/Eastern Ohio regionalism.

]

I think I just swooned. *fans self*

 

[themilf]

The rule is that those are the passive forms of the verb, so they need "to be" in there.

This is a western PA/Eastern Ohio regionalism.



Needs washed article.

For the last one, I would think it depends upon your audience. If you are talking to someone who is already at the location, "I am bringing a casserole" would be more correct. If you are talking to someone with you about somewhere you are going, "I am taking a casserole" would be more correct. I say 'more correct' because I'm not convinced that either would be flat out wrong.

Thank you all so much for explaining and helping and understanding! Moments after I posted I thought "wrong category/thread" but thankfully you each helped me! I love language and want to write more!

Love to all!

.