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“On Accident” or “By Accident”?

literalminded.wordpress.com

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Re: “On Accident” or “By Accident”?

#41
post #2

Interesting, and very much an American thing - never heard anyone say 'on accident' here in the UK.

No, but we have a similar one - lend and borrow have become interchangeable. "Can you borrow me an X" or "I lended (not even word AFAIK) it from him" is one I hear often from younger folks.

I've heard "lent" but never "lended".

"I lent a pen off him", "he lent me a pen". Could be a Northern thing though.

Re: “On Accident” or “By Accident”?

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but we have a similar one - lend and borrow have become interchangeable. "Can you borrow me an X" or "I lended (not even word AFAIK) it from him" is one I hear often from younger folks.

When they grow up, if enough of them still say "lended", it will be put into the dictionary.

That one I understand. It was an exception anyway; lended is more straightforward. Like 'builded' vs 'built'. The sign on our old 1800-era edifice says "Builded 1838" so I guess they used to use that (or at least write it that way)

Re: “On Accident” or “By Accident”?

#44
post #36

I've always said "accidentally", rather than "by accident". To my ear, "by accident" sounds almost as archaic as "by your leave". Maybe "on accident" comes from "on [making an] accident".

I almost never hear anyone say'on accident' but If I had to guess, it comes from taking sort of a parallel antonym to 'on purpose'. Did you do it 'on purpose'? No, I did it 'on accident'. It sounds weird to my ears but there is some kind of sense to it.

Re: “On Accident” or “By Accident”?

#45

On accident is one of those American sayings that sounds weird to my English ears. Like poop. where did the second p come from??? That said, I think our dialects are merging, (well more likely British English is becoming Americanised, but you guys make all the tv, so that's to be expected), for example, when I was younger no one said "ass", it was always "arse", but nowadays it's nearly always "ass"; except for the o…

As an American born in 1994, I have to say that "by accident" sounds a bit funnier than "on accident," which I hear more frequently. However, I feel that I usually say "accidentally" instead of either phrase.

Re: “On Accident” or “By Accident”?

#46
post #44
post #36

I've always said "accidentally", rather than "by accident". To my ear, "by accident" sounds almost as archaic as "by your leave". Maybe "on accident" comes from "on [making an] accident".

I almost never hear anyone say'on accident' but If I had to guess, it comes from taking sort of a parallel antonym to 'on purpose'. Did you do it 'on purpose'? No, I did it 'on accident'. It sounds weird to my ears but there is some kind of sense to it.

Maybe. But if I follow that path, I get "accidentally" vs "purposefully". The first is about how it went down, but the second is about how it was carried out. The opposite of "purposefully" is "carelessly" or "recklessly", no?

Re: “On Accident” or “By Accident”?

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but we have a similar one - lend and borrow have become interchangeable. "Can you borrow me an X" or "I lended (not even word AFAIK) it from him" is one I hear often from younger folks.

When they grow up, if enough of them still say "lended", it will be put into the dictionary.

Indeed. Language evolves, or we'd all be speaking PIE. Just sounds funny to my fossilised ear.

Re: “On Accident” or “By Accident”?

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but we have a similar one - lend and borrow have become interchangeable. "Can you borrow me an X" or "I lended (not even word AFAIK) it from him" is one I hear often from younger folks.

When they grow up, if enough of them still say "lended", it will be put into the dictionary.

Idiocracy.
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