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Discussion Groups / British English / December 2006I haven't had a good holiday in ages.
I haven't had a good holiday in ages. or.. I haven't had a good holiday for ages. Which of those is better in *British* English?  Signaturemail to: pinko(at)people.it > I haven't had a good holiday in ages. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Which of those is better in *British* English? I hear both pretty frequently, but prefer to use the second one. I'm a native speaker of British English. SignatureMike Stevens narrowboat Felis Catus III web-site www.mike-stevens.co.uk Defend the waterways. Visit the web site www.saveourwaterways.org.uk |> I haven't had a good holiday in ages. |> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] |I hear both pretty frequently, but prefer to use the second one. I'm a |native speaker of British English. I am a native speaker of northern English, and would think that the *first* one is more common. Maybe it is a North/South thing. SignatureDave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk> Google Groups is IME the *worst* method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies. > I haven't had a good holiday in ages. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Which of those is better in *British* English? I am a Brit and they both sound idiomatic to me and I would be quite happy to use either form, although my initial response is that I use "in" - I am from the North Midlands. > I haven't had a good holiday in ages. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Which of those is better in *British* English? In this context, 'ages' means 'a long time'. I have not had a good holiday for a long time - I have only had a good holiday for a short time. I have not had a good holiday in a long time - seems to be more precise. So, I would prefer 'I haven't had a good holiday in ages'. SignatureBlue Sow Native English speaker Native English student Blue Sow schrieb: >> I haven't had a good holiday in ages. >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > I have not had a good holiday for a long time - I have only had a good > holiday for a short time. This interpretation seems totally inappropriate to me. For me both expressions are synonymous - I'm from Ireland originally, but lived a long time in London. Regards, Einde O'Callaghan > I have not had a good holiday in a long time - seems to be more precise. > > So, I would prefer 'I haven't had a good holiday in ages'. >> I haven't had a good holiday in ages. >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >I have not had a good holiday for a long time - I have only had a good holiday >for a short time. That's worthy of a Lewis Carroll character. SignaturePhilip Baker >>> I haven't had a good holiday in ages. >>> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > That's worthy of a Lewis Carroll character. And an example of corruption, rather than a serving suggestion. My preference for 'in' is based upon the definitions of 'in' and 'for' as well as finding it less easy to corrupt. With reference to another poster, I avoid at all costs the use of American English (because I am not American) so no matter how poor my choices, or my motives, the results will be British English. SignatureBlue Sow > I haven't had a good holiday in ages. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Which of those is better in *British* English? I would naturally say "for ages". I grew up in the South of England and still live there. To my ears, "in ages" sounds American, notwithstanding the other reports here of it being used further north in Britain! Cheers Tony SignatureTony Mountifield Work: tony@softins.co.uk - http://www.softins.co.uk Play: tony@mountifield.org - http://tony.mountifield.org Tony Mountifield ha scritto: > To my ears, "in ages" sounds American Yes, I think the 'in' form is more common in American English. Signaturemail to: pinko(at)people.it At 16:52:37 on Fri, 1 Dec 2006, Tony Mountifield <tony@softins.clara.co.uk> wrote in <ekpmkl$s8m$1@softins.clara.co.uk>: >I would naturally say "for ages". I grew up in the South of England >and still live there. > >To my ears, "in ages" sounds American, notwithstanding the other reports >here of it being used further north in Britain! My instinct would be to say "for ages", but equally I would say "in years" rather than "for years". Make what you will of that. Born and raised in Edinburgh, subsequently London / Cambridgeshire / Sussex for the last <30 years. SignatureMolly Mockford They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin (My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.) > At 16:52:37 on Fri, 1 Dec 2006, Tony Mountifield > <tony@softins.clara.co.uk> wrote in <ekpmkl$s8m$1@softins.clara.co.uk>: > >I would naturally say "for ages". I grew up in the South of England > >and still live there. > >To my ears, "in ages" sounds American, I, born in the US and resident here for the past 84-plus years, will say equally naturally either "for ages" or "in ages". > >notwithstanding the other reports > >here of it being used further north in Britain! > > At 16:52:37 on Fri, 1 Dec 2006, Tony Mountifield > > <tony@softins.clara.co.uk> wrote in > > <ekpmkl$s8m$1@softins.clara.co.uk>: > > > >I would naturally say "for ages". I grew up in the South of > > >England and still live there. > > >To my ears, "in ages" sounds American, > I, born in the US and resident here for the past 84-plus years, will > say equally naturally either "for ages" or "in ages". > > >notwithstanding the other reports here of it being used further > > >north in Britain! Speaking entirely as a Yorkshireperson and so not qualified to comment on "British English", I'd venture that the choice of "for ages" or "in ages" might well depend on what hasn't happened. E.g. "I haven't seen her for ages" but "I haven't seen him in ages". SignatureDavid - toro-danyo atcost uku fullstop co fullstop uk http://www.toro-danyo.uku.co.uk/ pinko ha scritto: > I haven't had a good holiday in ages. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Which of those is better in *British* English? Thanks everyone. From your replies I deduce that both forms are correct and commonly used. Signaturemail to: pinko(at)people.it |
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