"Keeping Up Appearances" question

[piperdbh]

This first post isn't funny, but the responses probably will be.

In the BBC show "Keeping Up Appearances", the four sisters refer to each other as "our Daisy", "our Rose", "our Violet" and of course, "our Hyacinth". In England, is this a common way for family members to refer to each other, with "our" before the person's name, or is it a convention invented for this particular show?

[Jock Scot]

Oh it is quite commonly heard. Probably, I think, in Northern England. Heard in that wonderful recording of; Albert and the Lion, by Stanley Holloway containing the words "---yon lion has eaten our Albert."

[piperdbh]

Thanks, Jock.

[Jock Scot]

Dual post deleted.

[GoodGirlGonePlaid]

Our family has a little spin on this. When said family member is acting inappropriately, it gets switched to "Your Mary, Your Jeffrey, Your mother..." etc.

[English Bloke]

Yup. 'tis standard in Northern England English.

[Father Bill]

It's an endearment. Usually.

[McClef]

It's also used with a Scottish flavour e.g. Oor Wullie

[ohiopiper]

My wife and i use the inverse of this, alluded to by GoodGirlGonePlaid. When the kids act up, it's "Look what YOUR son did/said/caused/etc."

[MacMillans son]

Assuming you have your answer David, I'll hijack for a second with a California version, if I may?

We in the North can always tell when someone is from Southern California, as they put "The" before freeway numbers when explaining/giving directions. "You take the 80" to "the 101 South" to "the 156 West" We in the North don't use "the" in that way, we just say the number "Take 80, to 101 South, to 156 West... Don't know why it started, or stopped here, but it is a consistent regional language quirk.

I'll now return you to your original thread

Brooke