“For” Versus “At”

Informant: Libby Flint, age 59, New Orleans resident of 36 years, originally from Upstate New York and Vermont. Collected May 22, 2016 and recorded on iphone

Verbal Lore: Folk Speech, Slang

English

United States of America

context: The word “for” is substitures for the word ” at when describing a time for a meeting or event.

transcript:

“ a few other things I noticed, If you have to meet somebody at a certain time, you would say you have to meet that person ‘for 2pm’ instead of ‘at 2pm.’”

Collector Commentary: This appears to simply be a colloquial quirk of NO English. it is unique because not many other places in the United States habitually use the term For instead of at when giving times for meetings and events.

Keyword: New Orleans, for, at, meeting times