“Bring” vs. “Take” differences in UK and American English

@mediator:
I will bring thee where Mistress Anne Page is - Merry Wives of Windsor - Host - Act 2 Scene 3
in the morn I will bring you to your ship - The Tempest - Prospero - Act 5 Scene 1
Will you go to them? I will bring you thither - Romeo and Juliet - Nurse - Act3 Scene 2

You'll find them all here - http://shakespeare.mit.edu/

'Shakespeare's works are not noted for accuracy' - if you're talking about historical accuracy, I'd agree with you, but I think you're talking about language. Could you explain?

@Perfect Pedant - if that was true, nobody would understand each other. Of course there are rules, the natural underlying rules of the language, and 99% percent of them cause no problems at all. But occasionally things change, words change meanings, grammatical forms drop out of use. This has been happening throughout the whole history of the language.

To get back to my original question:-

Why and how did this "blurring of meaning" originate?

I want to say it is because the two words are so similar. Both are talking about movement and the movement of things. I don't have any sources as to how it happened, but maybe an extremely popular book or common everyday phrase influenced people without their knowing.

Hi Hairy Scot - I don't think it was me who said blurring of meaning. And just to get things straight, I use bring and take the same way as you do, and teach my students to do likewise. But for me rules are not written in stone, and are not the same for all English speakers.

Many of the words we take for granted today have changed meaning over the centuries, and we can see certain grammatical forms being used less and less. There are already certain areas where AmE speakers and BrE speakers have different preferences - group nouns, use of the subjunctive, words like among(st), etc. This doesn't necessarily lead to the end of the world.

English has been constantly changing ever since the people of those different Germanic tribes started talking to each other. People have been 'bending' the rules right from the start - that's how the language came into existence. At what point do you freeze the language and say - Right, these are the rules. I'm afraid for me, language doesn't work like that.

No doubt these changes happen for all sorts of different reasons, and it would probably need a specialist to explain why. But in the case of 'bring' in the US, I seem to remember reading that it was quite widely used in TV ads. If that use becomes more general, then there is no problem with understanding, the rule has simply been modified, like others before it. And in any case, some commentators, like the Longman Dictionary of the English Language 1984, make the point that 'either verb can be used when the point of view is irrelevant' (MWDEU).

I found this article helpful:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/bring.html

Perhaps there is no real blurring of meaning, and that that is why these two verbs have become interchangeable for some. In the example in the first post (Can I take/bring you home?), the meaning is clear, and if she says no it's probably not because of his grammar.

So what comes after these verbs helps to clarify the meaning while at the same time makeing the choice of verb less vital to the meaning. What does that learn us, then?

I had to change my name to get this comment in.

Bring / take

Could this be another example of the German 'interference' in American English which also accounts for 'fill out' rather than 'fill in' and conditional 'If I would . . .' constructions? Bringen translates both ways.

Interesting, Percy. It may explain why Michael Schumacher (who usually knows his stuff) always gets the third conditional wrong in interviews...

"off" even.

@bloops - nice variation on the song, and you're right about "can" for permission of course; "may" is seen as pretty formal nowadays. It reminds me of my schooldays long ago. If someone said - "Can I go to the toilet, please Sir", the teacher would invariably answer - "I don't know. Can you?"

@v pinches - Few commentators nowadays see any problem with using hopefully as a sentence adverb. In fact, I doubt that it is used that much to mean in a hopeful manner, and in any case there's unlikely to be any confusion.

Frankly can also mean in a frank manner - "He spoke to me frankly", but I haven't seen any great objections to "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".

Other adverbs used both as adverbs of manner and sentence adverbs include "honestly, sadly, seriously, stupidly". How is "Hopefully, I'll be able to make your party" any different to "Sadly, I won't be able to make your party"? After all, someone can look at me hopefully or sadly. But for some unknown reason, all the criticism is levelled at hopefully. There ain't no logic in it.

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-bring-take.htm

OK, so here's my take on it (for learners)

http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com/2012/01/confusing-verbs-come-go-bring-and-take.html

When I stayed in Ireland two years ago I heard my landlady say: "Oh, I forgot to bring my keys." She had left the house and then noticed that she missd her keys. So she came back and rushed into the kitchen to pick up her keys saying the above sentences.

@JonRich
With you 100% on this one.
However, I've no doubt the usual naysayers will present some spurious contrary arguments.

This has irritated me for years and it is getting worse. I've also heard the misuse in movies from the 40s. It seems to be a flaw in our education system.

Above I read "the speaker is not currently at". That also irritates me.

WOW ! :) I thoroughly enjoyed the bring/take dialogue and was pleased to see that I am not alone in my annoyance. I actually learned quite a lot/bit as well, so a hearty THANKS to everyone (one-and-all :).

I don't think it's fair to say that American English does not differentiate between bring and take. I see your statements as nationalistic and overly broad conclusions.

I've been living in Brisbane, Australia for nearly 8 years (originally from UK) and here they say bring instead of take. So my 2 sons are now saying bring! I correct them but it's not sticking in their brains, argh! :-)

In the second sentence, should "of" be "or"?

English is English, how can the language that Americans speak be called English.
Granted that it is a dialect of English but English grammar is often corrupted by the way that it is used in America, a typical example is the use of the word bring as discussed abov.

This is silly. Ignorance with an air of superiority. The rules of modern standard British English don't necessarily apply to all other variants. One example, is this, 'bring' and 'take'.

In Irish English, and from Irish, tóg, meaning take, traditionally was used primarily to 'take' possession of something (from someone). Take a sweet! So you can take something given to you or you could steal it. Something is 'changing hands'. But there was 'no movement of travel', so traditionally it would be, (take the kids 'from me') and bring them to school. Will you bring the kids to school? In Irish English, you bring the kids TO school and then you bring them home FROM school (One verb is enough, no need to reference 'taking possession') You bring food (with you) to the party. No one ate any of it. You (take it and) bring it home with you at the end of the night.

Of course, you can TAKE an umbrella, BUT WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT....""BRING"" it with you, therefore 'BRING AN UMBRELLA in case it rains!'

In Br-En you use TAKE (for bringing something/someone) from HERE to THERE.
I am taking the kids TO SCHOOL. Take that to them.
and you only BRING from THERE to HERE.
I am bringing the kids home FROM SCHOOL. Bring that to me!

Weird snobbery across these posts. Likely due to the British 'take/bring' directionality rule becoming commonplace. Still silly though.

I just wish people would stop calling English as spoken by the English as "British" or "UK" English. I will only start to allow this when the French speak French French and the Germans German German.

Thank you for expalnation!

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