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Grammar police - what's with waiting on Wednesday?
Since I joined Twitter, I've become aware of a community called "Waiting on Wednesday". When I first saw that tag, all I could think was: how can anyone wait on a Wednesday? It's not possible! What in heaven's name are they talking about?
You see, in my dialect, to "wait on" has a very specific meaning. It means that you are serving or attending someone. Waitstaff, stewards, and gentlemen and ladies in waiting wait on other people. They are the only ones who do. If you are wandering around in front of your garage wondering when your friend will arrive, or if you're glancing at your watch at the bus stop, you are not waiting on your friend, or on the bus. You're waiting for them.
This is so because you can only wait on a sentient being. You can wait on another person, or an alien, or - I suppose - an animal. You cannot wait on a book, or a Wednesday, or a bus. Not in my dialect, and not - I think - in standard English.
Of course, I'm aware that "wait on", to mean "wait for", is considered standard in some other dialects. I'm afraid I don't have the exact citation, but here's a quote from a famous American novel: "Haze! Wait on me!" *That's said by a barely literate teenager in the deep South. It's perfectly correct in Southern dialect, but it is not standard. Nor should it be.
Why not? Because to say "wait on" when you actually mean "wait for" introduces ambiguity. I came across the phrase in a (generally very good) historical novel, and I put the book down and had to struggle to pick it up again. For one thing, I have never, ever, seen or heard this phrase outside of the United States, so I just didn't believe people would talk that way in medieval Wales. The context made it worse. A father and daughter were going to visit their social superiors, and he was urging her to stop dawdling. "The Xes are waiting on us", he told her. Do you see the problem? Is the more powerful family helping and serving this father and daughter? Or are they expecting them? It's just not clear. Had the father said, "They're waiting for us," there would have been no ambiguity.
But at least he was talking about other human beings! You can wait on a nobleman, and I suppose he can wait on you. You really can't wait on a Wednesday. It won't notice or thank you if you do.
My two cents! But I do wonder how and why this particular expression, which I'd never seen in writing before the 21st century unless it was specifically in dialect, ever got so prevalent. What do you think? Have you seen "waiting on" used for "waiting for" in literature? If so, where? And did it bother you?
You see, in my dialect, to "wait on" has a very specific meaning. It means that you are serving or attending someone. Waitstaff, stewards, and gentlemen and ladies in waiting wait on other people. They are the only ones who do. If you are wandering around in front of your garage wondering when your friend will arrive, or if you're glancing at your watch at the bus stop, you are not waiting on your friend, or on the bus. You're waiting for them.
This is so because you can only wait on a sentient being. You can wait on another person, or an alien, or - I suppose - an animal. You cannot wait on a book, or a Wednesday, or a bus. Not in my dialect, and not - I think - in standard English.
Of course, I'm aware that "wait on", to mean "wait for", is considered standard in some other dialects. I'm afraid I don't have the exact citation, but here's a quote from a famous American novel: "Haze! Wait on me!" *That's said by a barely literate teenager in the deep South. It's perfectly correct in Southern dialect, but it is not standard. Nor should it be.
Why not? Because to say "wait on" when you actually mean "wait for" introduces ambiguity. I came across the phrase in a (generally very good) historical novel, and I put the book down and had to struggle to pick it up again. For one thing, I have never, ever, seen or heard this phrase outside of the United States, so I just didn't believe people would talk that way in medieval Wales. The context made it worse. A father and daughter were going to visit their social superiors, and he was urging her to stop dawdling. "The Xes are waiting on us", he told her. Do you see the problem? Is the more powerful family helping and serving this father and daughter? Or are they expecting them? It's just not clear. Had the father said, "They're waiting for us," there would have been no ambiguity.
But at least he was talking about other human beings! You can wait on a nobleman, and I suppose he can wait on you. You really can't wait on a Wednesday. It won't notice or thank you if you do.
My two cents! But I do wonder how and why this particular expression, which I'd never seen in writing before the 21st century unless it was specifically in dialect, ever got so prevalent. What do you think? Have you seen "waiting on" used for "waiting for" in literature? If so, where? And did it bother you?