Re: Word usage in English dialects // was Slang, curses and vulgarities

Quoting Tristan McLeay <conlang@...>:

> I don't see why you should be, it seems like a very limited word. Only
> used in questions with first-person subjects. Easy to fall out of use.
> Anyway, I don't use it. I'm surprised that Andreas reckons he was told
> that 'shall''s only used in questions and the bible; I thought it was
> only used in the KJV.
Well, as regards biblical quotes, those very commonly have their KJV form.

The use in questions we were taught was in polite questions of the type "Shall I
bring the biscuits?". The English we was taught was a fairly conservative RP, so
there's where one'd look for native usage - any Brits reading this?

Please remember, BTW, that the intent of teaching us these rules was to
*decrease* our use of 'shall'; we tended to equate 'will' with Sw. _vill_
"wish, want", and 'shall' with Sw. _skall_ "will, shall" (also "be supposed to"
and varius other meanings).

                                                 Andreas

Reply