LauraGB Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I know it is wrong. It should be side by side. I don't use it, but a lot of people I know do. Why is it wrong? "I set them side by each to compare." ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dominion Heather Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Wow... I've never heard it. Is it a British thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 Wow... I've never heard it. Is it a British thing? No...I think it might be a redneck thing. Although, I think my grandparents said it this way, too...a Polish thing? Possibly English as a second language thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SproutMamaK Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I've never heard of it, but I would think it would be wrong because it's doesn't specific what part of "each" the side if next to. If you say "side by each" it just implies that a side of facing the object, but it could be facing the top or the bottom of the object as well, not necessarily the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I don't know if it's correct, but it just sounds weird to me. I've never heard it (and I was raised, and live now, around a LOT of rednecks). :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I do not think it is redneck. Maybe some kind of regional thing. You should ask the person who says it next time they say it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 I do not think it is redneck. Maybe some kind of regional thing. You should ask the person who says it next time they say it. I did. What they said was, "because it is what I mean." :confused: I have grown up hearing it. I always thought it was local, until we rec'd an email from someone from (I think) New York who said it. I say "redneck" with the utmost affection - it is not meant as derogatory at all. My family may have its own entry under "redneck" in the encyclopedia. :lol: We have many 'Sconsinisms - and I love words...its all good to me. :) I just can't figure out why it would be grammatically wrong, even though I know it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I haven't heard it from Alaska to New York. Interesting how language gets used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I've never heard it. I'd also guess it is regional. I'd say you need something with the 'each' to make it correct. We were beside each other. Its like combining two phrases. It may be something that was originally translated from another language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Wow... I've never heard it. Is it a British thing? Washington to California, California to Virginia, Internet peeps from all over...I've never heard that used, either.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 A side is a noun. It's a person, place, or thing. (Thing: your side, sort of like your arm. Your side is a thing on your body.) Each is an adjective. It describes a noun. (Which boy? Each boy. Each is the adjective describing the boy.) So, you sit with your side next to his side. Side by side. You can't sit with your side next to his each. He doesn't have an each for you to sit next to. Each isn't a thing or a place to be sitting next to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I've never heard it either! Curious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 A side is a noun. It's a person, place, or thing. (Thing: your side, sort of like your arm. Your side is a thing on your body.) Each is an adjective. It describes a noun. (Which boy? Each boy. Each is the adjective describing the boy.) So, you sit with your side next to his side. Side by side. You can't sit with your side next to his each. He doesn't have an each for you to sit next to. Each isn't a thing or a place to be sitting next to. BAM!! Thank you! I think the reason I couldn't figure it out is because I have been so immersed in it. You are absoutely right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I been a whole lot of places and I have never heard it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellyndria Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Never heard it, and when I read it just now, it didn't make sense at all. Agreeing with Garga's post here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathersage Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 It is also the name of a movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathersage Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 In my google searches, urban dictionary says Rhode Island, but another site claims newfoundland as the source for side by each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I grew up in Newfoundland, and this is a common saying there. I wonder if it's old English or Irish. (Where most Newfoundlanders originally came from.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathersage Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I also saw some French-Canadians use this phrase. Oh, I found this on a Rhode Island website, http://www.search.com/reference/Woonsocket,_Rhode_Island Many of the French-Canadian immigrants use French grammar in order to form English sentences. Therefore, instead of "side by side" and "throw my coat downstairs," the phrases become "side by each" and "throw me down the stairs my coat." This is prevalent among the older residents of the city, but has become scarce as grandchildren and great-grandchildren of French Canadian immigrants have Americanized themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cammie Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I've never heard it. I'd also guess it is regional. I'd say you need something with the 'each' to make it correct. We were beside each other. Its like combining two phrases. It may be something that was originally translated from another language. I think this is exactly how it happened. "Beside each other" and "side by side" became combined probably by someone who didn't speak English as a first language into "side by each." You can see why. The two phrases mean pretty much the same thing and have similar sounding words. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 I also saw some French-Canadians use this phrase. Oh, I found this on a Rhode Island website, http://www.search.com/reference/Woonsocket,_Rhode_Island Many of the French-Canadian immigrants use French grammar in order to form English sentences. Therefore, instead of "side by side" and "throw my coat downstairs," the phrases become "side by each" and "throw me down the stairs my coat." This is prevalent among the older residents of the city, but has become scarce as grandchildren and great-grandchildren of French Canadian immigrants have Americanized themselves. Very interesting. My grandmother (to whom I referred earlier in the thread) is French, and used this phrase a lot. Dh's mother's mother is French, and she is the one who has permeated the lineage, so to speak, with this phrase. Huh. The fellow whose email I referred to might be from NewFoundland - dh has a lot of customers from there. This fellow was talking about fishing on the Georgian Bay, so I assumed he was "from" NY...not necessarily so... Hmmm... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Just for fun my mom would say 'side by each together' (to be playful, lighten the mood, calm the situation etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabelen Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Very interesting... I had never heard it before either having lived on both sides of the Atlantic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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