General Chat

No, no, no, no, BR.

Clock pendulums do not swing from right to left. They swing from left to right.

Left = back
Right = forth

Sigh.

I can't remember the last time I got involved in a conversation about a pendulum, it seems so old fashioned lol

I've come to my own personal conclusion that for me it depends on the context, I wouldn't say back and forth to the kitchen, it does sound very formal. However, it doesn't sound odd if someone said that they were going back and forth to the hospital although I probably would have said backwards and forwards.

Haven't read all the intervening pages... I use " back and forth" ...also " hither and thither " if it's a random wandering lol

I would use the phrase "there was a lot of coming and going" ...a pendulum goes "to and fro"

xx

And I do just think it's so funny that so many people think "back and forth" is old-fashioned, but somehow "to and fro" is just the height of modern. ;)

I knooooow. ;) (Oops, that was to CarolB - I'd missed the intervening interventions.) I was explaining the why of it -- from a pendulum swing, starting by going back, then going forward. Apparently it dates from 1605-1615!

I can trace the origins of words back 400 years, but not my danged grx2 grfather less than 200 years ago ...

Haven't read all the replies so this discussion has probably moved on but in answer to the original post I have used...

back and forth
coming and going
to and fro
and
there and back

Btw I'm a northern working class girl ;-)

Maybe it's because I read a lot and so have heard, and consequently used, all the expressions.

lolol I have been trying to work out what I would say naturally .... as back and forth seemed so old fashioned and correct. Guess what I do say it also to and fro'
So it's back and forth or to and fro' the kitchen, loo etc.
Strange to think that you can say something so often and not realise it in it's written context.

Sheeeesh! I created a monster! ;)

And the WDYTYA wasn't even a rerun ... it wasn't on at all last night.

Well, I just checked back to the other forum. I expected to see all my babble deleted by a moderator -- it's actually a technical kind of forum and they frown on, wait for it, "chat". I've had several things deleted since I started playing there a couple of weeks ago, as being "irrelevant chat". Can you imagine!

So I don't want to add anything to the thread there in case that brings it to the attention of somebody who complains -- yes, they alert on "chat" in that forum. I might edit the last post I did though, which wouldn't bump it up (like here). 'Cause I kinda want to add the good northern girl's "Up and down like a bride's nigh..." to go along with the blue-bottomed fly!

Anyhow, I put it to Toronto boy No.1 last night, whether saying you went back and forth sounded odd to him, and he couldn't figure out what I was on about. Of course it didn't sound odd.

Now, on that "back and forth" vs "forth and back" - some kibbitzer raised that in the other forum too.

Not sure whether I mentioned it here, but the explanation seems to be that the expression originated to describe an actual swinging motion.

When you set a pendulum in motion, you pull it "back" first, and then it goes "forth". Or backwards and forwards. When you swing on a swing, you go back first, and then forward.

Granted, if you actually went back and forth to the bathroom, you'd look a little odd, and in a hurry in the dark you might get off course and not get there in time.

Hast tha not heard of " tooing and froing all the way to Nobs Crook and back ! "

A wasted journey if ever there was !

Hia I'm originally a Lancashire Lass(very working class), brought up in Australia. We have always said back and forth as well as coming and going. A similar expression is "I've been going round the houses all day"

Wendy

Hi Budgie, anything that requires getting up, ie out of bed, out of a chair, going upstairs or down, we tend to say up and down like you do.

i am a Yorkshire girl and use both expressions i even meet myself coming back at times with all the comings and goings...lol

Kay, that's what I said at the very beginning of this thread. It's a term that has been around a long long time, it's still used, but here, more likely in written English than spoken English, simply because other phrases local to the area are more likely to be used. It all depends on the region, accent or dialect you use yourself.

So the conclusion would be, it is still in use, but whether it is in common use depend very much where you are in the world today. There are no hard and fast rules, and it's neither right nor wrong, old or modern, common usage or uncommon usage.

Sorry Janey, no winner, it's not black and white, it's back and forth. (rather like this thread :_)))))

well on you aint gonna win Janey too much regional uk slang,,,,that all means same thing,
there and back,


now why didnt you ask about up an down,,,,,,thats universal.....}

'coming and going' is not the same as 'back and forth'!
People can be coming and going to a doctor's surgery. They are all visiting the doctor (which is one specific place) but when they leave, they could be going anywhere.
But - if the doctor sends a patient to a hospital for a test and the hospital sends him back to the doctor - then the doctor sends him to the hospital for another test, etc. - then he is going back and forth from one place to another place and back again.
I suppose this is as clear as mud!

I'll go quietly.

Great thread, back and forth is a bit posh for a good working class northern girl and I normally hear it from the older gen, I prefer back and to or I'm up and down like a brides nig...but thats going off track good morning everyone :)

I think I would say back and forth on some occasions. Cant think what occasions offhand. I could also be buzzing around like a bluetailed fly (I am more refined than some people) except that these days I am too weary to buzz much.

Huia in New Zealand.

Aha but it is when you are going backwards and forwards at the SAME time that the problems start. Well that is what my Irish Grandma used to tell me. BC XX

GOOD THREAD JANEY

CaroleB

methinks a clear case of B³!!

:0))

Allan