THE YARD..... The GC Grumble Societies thread.... ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK...!!!

I notice a lot of people on here talk about the "the yard".
Does that mean the garden - sorry , help me out here.
I would think of the yard as a small space at the back of the house, maybe used for parking bikes, children's toys or something.
But language moves on and meanings change.
Please help an old fuddy duddy with "the yard".
Genuine enquiry :cnfs:

 

Hello Alice

Our colonial friends in the USA have always referred to their 'gardens' as their 'yards' - for what reason I know not.
I'm with you in thinking that the yard was where we put our bikes, etc.
Long live the old 'fuddy duddies'

 

Ive always thought an American 'yard' was a sort of scrub/muddy/dusty/paved bit of their garden for bikes and stuff?:tnp: They can call it what they like, I'll still go gardening.

 

Well, thanks for that Barnaby.
I know our colonial friends call their gardens (space round their houses) their yards.
But we seem to have a lot of people on here talking about their yards.
Has the word changed meaning, or am i missing something. Maybe I've been asleep for 20 years.
Well, in that case my Prince will be along - too late I think - I found a King long ago.

 

The 'old' English term for yard meant excatly that...a yard square space at the back, usually concreted, surrounded by the outhouses and not big enough to house anything much more that your bike!
However, the term has travelled across the pond and on its way gained a slightly altered definition, so meaning any area or garden behind the house.
As an Englishwoman, I consider the space my nan had to have been her yard.(exactly as described above) ..yet I have a garden!

 

to add (sorry!!!!) like most things American terms start here....travel there...come back meaning something else!
Sometimes I feel my 7 year old is American as she often speaks with a disney/hollywood acent!, so people who dont recall the original English use of the word 'yard' possible now use it from the American influence.

 

I am relieved to find that it is not just me that frequently finds themselves well into the second paragraph and thinking - What IS this person talking about? - because some commonplace English word has been recently changed or renamed for no apparent reason.

 

I've noticed a lot of American words are creeping into the English
language (ie) we aren't people any longer we are "Guys" we don't
have Opticians we have "Optomatrists" and yes there is the "Yard".
and another that most of us have adopted is "Hi" what happened to
Hello. can't understand why people want to be American??????. I'm
English and I'm going to stay English. maybe one of the younger
Generation will explain the attraction of these Americanisms, I find
them very irritating, but maybe it's an age thing??.

Pete

 

Pete, I'm with you 100%

Actually any area around the house - front, back and sides. I converse with a lot of people in the US on BoneSmart and frequently have the strongest urge to scream out "I dont have a yard - I have a garden!!"

It's like when someone referred to my lovely brick built conservatory at the front of the house as a 'lean to'!

 

I'm glad it's not just me Daisees, I thought I was just turning into a grumpy
old man, anyway I'm going out to do some work in the GARDEN now.


have a nice day Ya'll :lollol:

Pete

 

The Americanism that annoys me most is "can I get...". As in when someone is in a shop buying something: "can I get a Big Mac meal with a diet coke..."

What's wrong with "could I have", or God forbid "please may I have..."? Dunno why that annoys me so much, but it does.

As for "Yard". I've had yards most of my life - in old terraced houses, there's usually just a concreted space as Axie-Ali described. Now it'd probably be described as a "courtyard garden" or "patio terrace" or summat by estate agents. Still possible to grow plenty of stuff in pots, though.

 

I was always brought up (Lancashire) with the term "Back Yard" or go play in the "Yard" irrespective of the size of the garden.

Must admit I thought it went back to the inner space of a building or a space surrounded by walls/high fence, i.e Court Yard, Coal Yard, Train Yard, but over the years was just shortened to Yard. Terraced houses in the old workers terraced houses all had Back Yard like Coronation street.

 

Being born in a terraced house just a few years ago, my recollection of the YARD was the bit out the back, a concreted small area, then there was a "right of way", and the GARDEN was the other side of the "right of way", usually gated.

I find a few Americanisms helpful, Hi is much easier to type with one finger than Hello, so if its shorter I will use it.

You all have a nice day now folks.:wink:

 

Wikipedia is a mine of time-wasting information. 'Yard' and 'garden' have the same (Germanic/Saxon) linguistic root; they are just slightly different versions of the same thing.

The word "yard" came from the Anglo-Saxon geard, compare "garden" (German Garten), Old Norse garðr, Russian gorod = "town" (originally as an "enclosed fortified area"), Latin hortus = "garden", Greek χορτος = "hay" (originally as grown in an enclosed field).

 

Far too many Americanisations creeping in.

I've even read "gotten" on a UK board.
The one that irritates me most is, the substitution of a "Z" for "S" in words like "generalisation" etc.,