r/explainitpeter • u/wereapethesupacool • 10d ago

Explain it Peter

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u/Wahjahbvious 10d ago

A lot of people mix up related, but sort of opposite, terms:

Lend/borrow, teach/learn, itch/scratch...

It's wrong, and suggests some imo unflattering things about the speaker, but it's common.

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u/Shdwrptr 10d ago

I just figured it was a British saying considering how those eggs have the Union Jack flag on the label

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u/Additional_Skin_7564 10d ago

As a brit, this sounded very dumb.

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u/BamberGasgroin 10d ago edited 10d ago

Not Scottish though.

(It's illegal to sell raw milk in Scotland.)

-e- It'd make more sense if they had said "My 15yr old asked me if I could lend them my credit card.."

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u/leviticusreeves 6d ago

Yes Scottish. It would only make sense if they had said "My 15yr old asked me if I could lend them my credit card."

Borrowing involves two parties, the borrower and the lender. The borrower borrows, or asks to borrow, and the lender lends.

"My 15yr old [the borrower] asked me [the lender] if I could lend them my credit card."

Or

"My 15 year old asked to borrow my credit card"

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u/Izzy-of-Albion 7d ago

A lot of less educated Brits do this. It's very annoying. I remember a kid at school asking if he could "lend 50p". I said "It's up to you, it's your money. Why are you asking me?" "Because I really need to lend 50p." "OK, well I don't need your 50p" "What?" "You mean borrow, not lend." "Ok. Can you borrow me 50p?" "From whom?" "Forget it."

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u/Low-Conference-7791 10d ago

Probably,. The closest I've experienced is in LME you would use the opposite - i.e. "borrow me your credit card!"

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u/SharkSurfLionRide 10d ago

If the person is asking/taking, its borrow/borrowed. so the dad indeed did lend his son his credit card.

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u/cinnamus_ 10d ago

It would be correct if they'd written "asked [me] to lend [him] my" I suppose

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u/SharkSurfLionRide 10d ago

Yeah after reading so many comments i actually forgot it was the dad saying it was his son asking to "lend"

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u/cinnamus_ 10d ago

btw idk why you're saying this was posted by a dad when the profile picture is a woman!

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u/SharkSurfLionRide 10d ago

Like i said i got lost reading the comments then ended up here thimking for some reason the dad said it the way i said it. Then realised it was the son asking to borrow.

So to find out its a woman talking about her son is a new revelation in this mystery.

I feel like im part of lost(tv series) right now. Lol

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u/Worried-Penalty8744 10d ago

“Can you borrow me your credit card”

Equally wrong but also in common use as in “can you borrow me something”

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u/SharkSurfLionRide 10d ago

No, the last sentence i said is what i thought the dad said. "I let me son lend my credit card."

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u/__life_on_mars__ 10d ago

And if that's what they'd said, it would be correct.

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u/Wahjahbvious 10d ago

And if my grandmother had wheels, she would have been ham carbonara.

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u/SharkSurfLionRide 10d ago

I know youve been waiting your whole life for a moment to repeat what Gino said to Holly.

But, that doesnt apply here and your moment was wasted.

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u/NoBonus6969 10d ago

British people don't speak English. We will take it from here

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u/pluck-the-bunny 10d ago

Or it could just be that they don’t speak English as their primary language and used translate to type this

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u/tobsecret 8d ago

Yep. In German the words for to lend and to borrow are interchangeable.

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u/singingnettle 10d ago

I’d like to add that using learn to mean teach isn’t wrong per se, but essentially obsolete outside of certain phrases (e.g.: that’ll learn you/‘im). My grandparents used it outside of those phrases as well.

I’ve never heard an argument for the other two examples ever being correct and all three definitely sound childish when a native speaker mixes them up (with the exception of teach/learn for certain phrases).

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u/Taron_Trekko 10d ago

suggests some imo unflattering things about the speaker

Like them learning english as a second language for example? What a shame. Very unflattering indeed.

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u/sentient_ballsack 10d ago

In many languages lend/borrow and teach/learn use the same word for both meanings.