Friday, June 5, 2009

"Here we are, then."

I am transcribing another of Mrs. Oliphant's stories of the seen and the unseen, "The Lady's Walk". This morning I came upon the following:

'"Here we are, then." It was a curious phrase; but there are some odd idioms in the Scotch language, and I had become accustomed now to accept them without remark.'

Now this struck me as odd, because the phrase "here we are, then" doesn't seem curious to me at all. Is this word usage typical of Scotland? Is the fact that it does not sound curious to me a reflection of language patterns which came to the U.S. with Scottish immigrants?

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