Home » Discussion Forum

Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Discussion Forum (Archived)

Please consider registering
Guest
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Min search length: 3 characters / Max search length: 84 characters
The forums are currently locked and only available for read only access
sp_TopicIcon
Stand vs run
Guest
1
2016/07/30 - 1:53am

It is hard not to notice how smoothly and efficiently and  civilly  Britain changes her leaders.  And then, though the apparent linguistic implication could be entirely incidental, one can't help noticing her political lingo:  stand for election - an ocean of contrast to the American hectic   run for office.   (Though in the latest cycle, Brits didn't even need an election to speak of.)

Was there a time when Americans also  (mostly) stood?  When, which elections ?  

Guest
2
2016/08/01 - 4:33pm

RobertB asked: Was there a time when Americans also  (mostly) stood?  When, which elections ?

I think that may be primarily a British English thing. I just ran a search on Ngrams, and only found this one example for the USA. And it was for judges, not for the presidency. As it was the year 1893, that might still be a hold-over from BE. In the case of presidents, senators, and representatives, I've only heard "run for office." But then, the USA is a highly competitive (and "hectic" as you put it) society ... especially when it comes to beating an ideological opponent. Likewise for sports, business, and academia. Would that we could be as "civil" as the UK ... I've been embarrassed by the tactics used in the last few presidential election cycles.

Forum Timezone: America/Los_Angeles
Show Stats
Administrators:
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Moderators:
Grant Barrett
Top Posters:
Newest Members:
Mike Brock
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 1
Topics: 3647
Posts: 18912

 

Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 618
Members: 1266
Moderators: 1
Admins: 2
Most Users Ever Online: 1147
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 44
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)