Hi everyone,
I watched an interview with a very famous actress and she really makes clear that the English language is changing as are other languages. It went as follows:
Interviewer: 'New York is said to be a beautiful city.
Actress: ‘Yes, have you ever been?’ Instead of ‘Have you ever been there?’
It’s not occassionally she uses this, nor a coincicdence, because she uses this phrase very often.
What do you think @Andrea, @NearlyNapping, @Anglophile, @Alan, @Arinker.
This is not a recent change. This usage has been around as long as I remember. Most people do not say this however. This is something a person would say when they are trying to be cool. Although it’s possible it’s more common in some places, but not anywhere I’ve lived.
I’d like to echo what NN said. My mental impression on reading this was of an actress with a long cigarette holder. I’m thinking of our friend Joan Collins.
Was this a current interview?
Hi, Arinker,
Yes, I’m talking about her. I think it was, because during the first two years she played Alexis in ‘Dynasty’, she spoke British English with great panache (I don’t know if that’s the correct word to use here) and then gradually she became more American. In the interview she also says: ‘I wanna be American’. I think it’s a current interview.
Though she is using it very often, I think she should only mean “Have you ever been (to New York)?”
I think it’s just a shortened form of the original question. Why spell out every word when the question is clear by omitting unnecessary words? This happens in oral conversation all the time.
Panache is an excellent word, though probably used most often by people with panache.
And Ms. Collins or Mrs. Gibson undoubtedly is someone with (great) panache, wouldn’t you agree?