Dialect nerding with Mris

[mrissa]

Okay, another dialect question. Haven’t done one in awhile. Does your home dialect contain the phrase “a goin’ concern,” usually applied to small children? And if not, would you still have some sense of what “that child is a goin’ concern” might mean if someone else used it, or would you be completely in the dark?

(Sometimes when I’m talking to

Comments

[carbonel]

Urban Midwesterner all the way (Chicago and Minneapolis), and I've never heard the phrase except as applied to businesses.

[buymeaclue]

I don't use it but I (believe that I) understand the meaning.

(I distinctly remember railing against the "needs verbed" construction when I was in college in rural Illinois, but guess what construction I now use on a regular basis and find soothing to see/hear crop up other folks...)

[swan_tower]

Like others, I use "a going concern" for businesses and events and such, but not children. I could guess at its meaning in the context of a kid, but I wouldn't be sure. (Knowing a more specific context would help.)

[alecaustin]

Usual business blah. I would have no idea what it meant when applied to a kid.

[sraun]

I'm in the 'apply it to business' camp. Born in Ohio, moved to Duluth to start 1st grade, lived in MN & the UP since then.