And while we’re at it, what’s with this thing (increasingly prevalent I might add) of leaving out the verb “to be” in expressing infinitives?
For example people will say (and write):
“This food needs cooked.”
“The house needs cleaned.”
“The dogs need walked.”
All of these things need *TO BE* cooked, cleaned or walked.
Or, they might need cooking, cleaning or walking.
< /grammarnazi >
That started as a Pittsburgh thing. It’s definitely spreading.
When I moved to northwestern Pennsylvania the omission of “to be” in conversation was glaring. Just last night I read a classified ad for someone selling something and right there, in print, it said “Needs gone” instead of “needs to be gone”.
While we’re at it:”Advice” is becoming “advise” on the internet. I cannot fathom why.