What does " He is back of the house" mean? Does it mean that he is inside the house and in some part of it that is at the back ? Or that he is outside the house but towards the rear of the building? Or does it have some other meaning? *************************************************************** 04-03-06, 04:52 PM DorianGreyed If you are talking about a restaurant or hotel employee, it is someone working in the kitchen or maintenence, someone who would have little or no customer contact.
04-03-06, 05:04 PM FredPuli No DG, this is referring to 'his' home, his house. Smile
( We do have a similar usage to your 'restaurant' one here though in that in the theatre 'front of house' is the box office and the greeting and ushering part of the business.'Back of house' we don't have: it would be 'backstage' )
04-03-06, 05:17 PM Sarai I've never heard this expression.
"He is out back" would mean he is behind the house, outside.
"He is in the back of the house" would mean he is inside the house, near the back door somewhere.
"He is at the back of the house" would mean he is inside the house, near the back door somewhere.
Without a preposition, though, it sounds strange to me.
04-03-06, 05:45 PM FredPuli Could it be 'He is behind the house' ? Confused
04-03-06, 06:57 PM Sarai Where did you hear it/ read it, Fred?
In my opinion, it must be a typo. Without more words, it doens't make any sense. But I'd bet it means inside the house at the back.
However, as I said, I've never heard it and it sounds like an error to me, so it may be a regionalism that is as foreign to me as it is to you!
04-04-06, 01:34 AM FredPuli
quote: Originally posted by Sarai: Where did you hear it/ read it, Fred?
Oddly, it's in a book on linguistics ** Big Grin
The author is giving examples of how other languages express spatial relations like 'through' and 'behind'. He heads the section 'At the back of space' and gives this example from Kwa, an African language : [said as] ele xca megbe [reads as] he-is house-the back [means] 'he is back of the house'
Later on in the book he refers to the American 'back of' as meaning 'behind'. This example may indeed be a typo (or a simplification of his own Smile )
Incidentally, had he given 'he is out back' as an example I'd still be asking you. I would not know what 'he is out back' meant. 'In the outback' (Australian) I would understand but 'he is out back' I'd have to guess at. And what would we say for 'he is out back' ? Why, 'he is out the back' of course ! Big Grin
**[ The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher is just out and is excellent. It's a pacy, amusing read, not at all drily academic and is recommended. Do you know why most of the world's languages have no word for 'have' ?...etc ]
04-04-06, 02:13 PM juanruiz
quote: Incidentally, had he given 'he is out back' as an example I'd still be asking you. I would not know what 'he is out back' meant. 'In the outback' (Australian) I would understand but 'he is out back' I'd have to guess at. And what would we say for 'he is out back' ? Why, 'he is out the back' of course !
In the days before indoor plumbing, the facilities were often a small shack in the backyard. Hence, "he's out back" was a euphemism for he's in the toilet.
04-04-06, 04:07 PM VelvetVoice When I was a Catholic, I always used to wonder why the entrance was the back of the church and you got to the front by going in the back door.
04-04-06, 07:23 PM babthrower Yes, it sounds like a colloquilism. I would take 'He's back of the house' to mean, 'He's behind the house.'
The Oxford Universal says :
'back of': back from, behind (In U.S.)
04-04-06, 07:29 PM babthrower
quote: Originally posted by VelvetVoice: When I was a Catholic, I always used to wonder why the entrance was the back of the church and you got to the front by going in the back door.
Must have been designed by Bill Gates.
04-06-06, 01:26 AM mozart56
quote: Originally posted by VelvetVoice: When I was a Catholic, I always used to wonder why the entrance was the back of the church and you got to the front by going in the back door.
I am Catholic and never been to an other "worship place" before. Aren't all Mosques or Synagogues the same? I mean, you enter from the back door going to the front?
04-06-06, 09:40 AM newnickname There was a cheesy, black-and-white horror movie on TV last night. Anyway, the man contaminated by 'Radium X' from the meteor was looking for a place to hide, and the creepy doctor told him, "There's a tent in back." This tent seemed to be a kind of lean-to, at the back.
Aren't most places of worship laid out just like theatres?
04-06-06, 10:58 AM FredPuli
quote: Originally posted by newnickname:
Aren't most places of worship laid out just like theatres?
How? You mean they have a fire exit which kids can jam open so as to let all their mates in without paying?
What's the 'back door' of a church? Churches are laid out along an East-West axis with a north door or south door where people normally enter. If they are very grand churches, such as cathedrals, they have a great west door through which the great processions enter so as to process down the length of the nave.
04-06-06, 11:22 AM Sarai
quote: Originally posted by babthrower: Yes, it sounds like a colloquilism. I would take 'He's back of the house' to mean, 'He's behind the house.'
The Oxford Universal says :
'back of': back from, behind (In U.S.)
Has any American here ever heard someone say "He's back of the house"? I've never heard that in my life. "Back of" in my mid-western English can only be used with another preposition - He's in the back of the house or He's at the back of the house. Neither means "back from" or "behind" - they both mean inside, at the opposite side from the front.
I'm beginning to think the Brits are inventing their own version of American English! Have any of you other Americans heard this expression used without another preposition?
04-06-06, 11:43 AM DorianGreyed I have heard this usage a few times, and it was always from someone who had either a rural or Southern background.
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