do british girls call eachother handsome?

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MidnightRoses888@reddit

Nope. We say pretty, nice, beautiful, sophisticated etc.

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Diligent_Movie9287@reddit

deadass feel like ur friend just tryna mess with u fr

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Silver-Appointment77@reddit

Ive never heard of this. Girls are pretty or bonny. I even asked my 12 year old incase it was a new thing, Hes says no too.

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Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit

Where bonny means "pretty but not slim".

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Silver-Appointment77@reddit

No, Bonny mean pretty. Nothing about fat. I have a bonny grandaughter. Shes slim.

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DigitalAmy0426@reddit

Willing to put money on your friend reading Jane Austin and assuming that's still widely used language. I have seen it in later books but nothing since 1925.

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Impala67-7182@reddit

Robert Jordan used it at least once in The Wheel of Time series, that spanned from 90's to...i wanna say 2010's in publication dates. I should google the dates...1990-2013. It is fantasy though, so uses less modern ish language.

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unseemly_turbidity@reddit

And even then, I expect it referred to the Aes Sedai (powerful, almost ageless women) not girls.

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Impala67-7182@reddit

I believe Siuane, and maaaybe Cadsuane? So yes, you're absolutely right

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unseemly_turbidity@reddit

My mental picture of Cadsuane matches 'handsome' very well.

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DigitalAmy0426@reddit

Huh, TIL. Thanks 😁

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anabsentfriend@reddit

It comes up in Jane Austen novels a lot.

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sudden-arboreal-stop@reddit

Sherlock and Watson always seem to be riding handsome cab(bies). May not be exactly the same context, unsure.

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ice-lollies@reddit

That’s a Hansom cab/carriage.

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sudden-arboreal-stop@reddit

How very dare you... 😜

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MiTcH_ArTs@reddit

Generally no, however if they are a particularly imposing figure perhaps or if they seek imply they look/act like a man

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nathanherts@reddit

They're lying to you. No British girl would ever refer to their girl friends as handsome is all seriousness.

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WatermoonApollo@reddit

The hell is *leng*? When was that made a thing? What? And why?

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bpmayne@reddit

Leng, peng, nang, if you lived in London in the past 20y you would have heard atleast 1

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PromotionChance1237@reddit

Dont forget the piff

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nathanherts@reddit

I had completely forgotten that one.

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C2H5OHNightSwimming@reddit

Ong finally someone that remembers nang!! The youth don't say that these days.

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bpmayne@reddit

All a matter of where you grew up I guess!

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Fruitpicker15@reddit

Leng ting

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Scared-One9295@reddit

I thought a leng was a knife, and a skeng a gun. I might have that backwards, although it seems that's already out of date anyway

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BadBassist@reddit

I remember hearing it at school about 20 years ago, but not since

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nathanherts@reddit

You mustn't spend a lot of time around young people then.

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BadBassist@reddit

Not really since

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nathanherts@reddit

I hear leng used on a near daily basis. 🤣

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jesusbambino@reddit

Typo for “peng” or is that naff and I’m old?

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nathanherts@reddit

The youth don't use peng anymore. It evolved into leng.

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Necessary_Umpire_139@reddit

Probably MLE, patois or pidgin in origin.

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Snowbirdy@reddit

I know a girl who calls me handsome. Well, she’s a woman in her 30s. And I’m a dude. But other than that.

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bitofafixerupper@reddit

The only person I've ever called handsome is my son. (And any male pet I've ever had)

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Mumique@reddit

It's occasionally used in a literary sense to mean, 'a woman attractive but not conventionally so, more masculine in beauty'. I've never heard it used aloud.

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Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit

Exactly this. If someone said I (40s F) was "handsome" I would assume it meant butch possibly in a posh way but not in a good way.

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ice-lollies@reddit

I would say some women are handsome, but not in a nasty way. In a striking, powerful way. Gillian Anderson would be an example of a handsome woman to me.

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Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit

I get what you're saying, but if I try to picture a "handsome woman" I see Miranda Hart: tall and robust and symmetrical with strong features. I definitely wouldn't put GA in that category.

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erinoco@reddit

Gwendoline Christie would be my perfect definition of this sense of "handsome".

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Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit

She has played several "handsome" roles, yes!

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ice-lollies@reddit

To be fair I don’t know how tall she is. I see what you mean about tall though.

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RayaQueen@reddit

Weems in Wednesday is a handsome woman.

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ice-lollies@reddit

And Morticia, although moreso Angelica Houston.

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RayaQueen@reddit

Ooh yes. :-)

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Forsaken-Yogurt-@reddit

I don't think it's butch it's just angular. It's certainly not an insult.

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Search-Lite@reddit

I agree if you call a girl or woman handsome you mean they have a singular beauty which is more than pretty, which I think is why it so rare.

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jesusbambino@reddit

I’ve heard it used aloud but only specifically when discussing models by Tyra Banks.

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JTemperance-esque@reddit

Yes - it is antiquated; I’ve only really seen it written down and it fell out of fashion around the 1950s I would guess. Basically striking, but not in a delicate way. You wouldn’t find it applied to a young woman either typically. It would be for middle-aged women.

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actualinsomnia531@reddit

Nope. It was used in regency era so appears in period dramas so it's probably bled into the subconscious from that.

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BG3restart@reddit

Nowadays it's reserved for men, boys and male dogs/cats mostly.

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

No.

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elf_n_safety@reddit

Absolutely not. You might say that an attractive man was handsome. It might have been used for women in the past, probably for aristocracy in terms of good breeding.

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N64Andysaurus92@reddit

No lol Calling a girl 'handsome' either implies she's a lesbian or looks butch 🤣

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CocoRufus@reddit

No

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HipKittens@reddit

I wish they’d bring it back. Not every woman wants/suits a pretty/Barbie label. It really suits women with a powerful striking beauty such a Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Tilda Swinton or Michelle Obama.

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YouthExtension551@reddit

I’ve noticed it occasionally in the traveller communities in England! Usually “hansome” but never from anyone else!

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VicTitball@reddit

No

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joeChump@reddit

Not strictly true. "My handsome" (often pronounced "me 'ansum") is a classic Cornish term of endearment and greeting, used for both men and women, meaning "my lovely," "my friend," or "alright?". It is a friendly, universal phrase to greet friends or strangers and is a hallmark of the local Cornish dialect.”

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haggis_catcher-@reddit

I know a few masculine women to be fair

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Left-Sorbet3092@reddit

I say that when I want to compliment a woman from time to time. Seems to get a positive reaction, just not from my wife.

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igirisujin@reddit

Handsome to describe women would not have been unusual in 19th century Britain, but would be odd now.

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fotfddtodairsizr@reddit

It’s funny because I said this today! Though it’s not normal language, no.

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Eddie_F_17@reddit

I don’t think I have *ever* heard this. Maybe in a certain region they do, though.

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RayaQueen@reddit

I've used it. It's not dead. But it's for women of stature who've taken their place in the world. Who carry themselves with confidence and are attractive through that. I probably prefaced it with 'what you might call a...' though.

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Serious_Badger_4145@reddit

No. pretty maybe but not handsome Handsome is more masculine. Some women who present in a more masculine 'butch' way may use it, but otherwise it's common to use pretty or beautiful or hot

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HistoryCat92@reddit

In the 18th century

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Bardsie@reddit

Yeah. Was going to say, it's a very dated term.

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originalcinner@reddit

OP's friend is therefore a vampire.

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HistoryCat92@reddit

Only logical conclusion

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JTemperance-esque@reddit

Yes although continuing for a fair while after that. i think it stopped being used so much after the first half of 20th Century. It is definitely something you would find in Wilde or Wodehouse or an Agatha Christie. I think it was typically used to mean attractive but not in a delicate way - striking would be an equivalent perhaps. It wouldn’t typically be used for young women.

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HistoryCat92@reddit

Oh 100% I was just trying to say it’s old fashioned

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AgingLolita@reddit

No.

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tarragon_the_dragon@reddit

it is a thing but its extremely posh old lady core. i might say it if i was doing a bit maybe but never in full seriousness

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RayaQueen@reddit

I think you might say a handsome woman. It carries a sense of fine and upstanding and, well, masculine too. I feel it might have been a polite way to indicate a 'masculine', charismatic, attractive woman (at a time where this would be awkward somehow). Conveys admiration but could be used in a snide way probably too. But it's still very dated.

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Robinj03@reddit

Women would refer to their friends as gorgeous or beautiful but you wouldn't say it to a stranger. I'm originally from the north and we refer to everyone as 'love'. Not unusual to hear Londoners say it

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MisabelWearsNikes@reddit

No, never.

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GapSweet3100@reddit

No I’ve never heard of that

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Bubbly_Gap6636@reddit

My son's friends called my daughter a peng ting if that helps (11 year old lads in the North West UK 😂)

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Bubbly_Gap6636@reddit

Absolutely not!! I've heard teens say "pretty" and message each other 🔥 and slay!!

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Karl-Pilkinghorn@reddit

No, but it is used within the gypsy and traveller communities I believe. I’ve heard females refer to other females (e.g. a mother to a daughter) in such a way. For example, ‘oh what an ‘andsome girl’

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Adelucas@reddit

Handsome to a woman is an insult if used on younger women. It means they aren't pretty but have other attractive qualities it make up for it. Generally used for an older woman as in "Oh she's a handsome woman for her age" as in "She's not pretty, but at least she doesn't have a face like a bag of broken spanners"

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mooongate@reddit

if you're talking about stone butches or drag kings or similar other than that... near zero

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Stock_Caregiver_7594@reddit

It would be used as a term when speaking about an attractive women in Britain, however it hasn't been commonly used towards women for sometime now; over a hundred years. I think they may still use it some parts of Ireland, or maybe Scotland (I am not 💯 sure of this, however feel I may have heard it on programs set there) I have never heard any of my fellow English people call a woman handsome.

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Dorisimoooo@reddit

I would say to call a woman handsome would likely be seen as offensive

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Forsaken-Yogurt-@reddit

It's not offensive above a certain age id say. It's probably weird to call a 69 year old "pretty" and I've certainly heard "she was a handsome woman" for like... Older women.

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Forever-Hopeful-2021@reddit

My parents would use handsome when describing a good looking woman but not your stereotype good looking/pretty. I've not heard it since.

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Hertfordgal@reddit

What’s really going on here?

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ClevelandWomble@reddit

No. Some writers may use the word to refer to a woman who may be striking without being conventionally beautiful, but it would not common in conversation, particularly between younger women.

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SilverLordLaz@reddit

No

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Forsaken-Yogurt-@reddit

If anyone is calling someone a handsome woman, it's probably a novel, it's probably a historic novel, and the woman is probably over 40, more likely over 50. E.g. "The landlady was a handsome, no nonsense, grey haired woman - the rumour (never uttered in her presence) was that in her youth she had bewitched a prince but he had died in the war before he could return to her" No girl would call another girl handsome.

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YchYFi@reddit

No not at all. Handsome used to a be gender neutral word.

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Robbylution@reddit

The only time I’vr heard “handsome” is from village mums to my five-year-old after his haircut.

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PaleOnion6177@reddit

Depends where you are, in Cornwall "My Handsome" is a common greeting for any gender, although the H is usually dropped so it's my ansom

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HistoryDisastrous493@reddit

Sometimes in Cornwall, but more "ello me'ansome" than actual "handsome"

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thekabagool@reddit

Maybe if they were like old money posh

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Short-Shopping3197@reddit

You’d say a woman was ‘handsome’ if she was pretty but had boyish or masculine features like a defined jaw, shorter hair etc. Kiera Knightly for example could be described as having ‘handsome features’. It isn’t considered an insult per se but can be taken the wrong way.

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Jigglypuffs_quiff@reddit

Handsome is more a man thing but people wouldn't really say it any more ...'fit' 'hot' or whatever....I'd use handsome to describe an animal though...if the animal is nice to look at but not 'cute' ..like a Male lion or adult husky dog.

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Smoothest-of-Gooches@reddit

In my 39 years I’ve never heard anyone refer to a woman as handsome

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MKBRD@reddit

It was common, about 80+ years ago but it's long since died out.

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AceOfSpades532@reddit

Stuff says that in older texts, like very old texts, it’s not a modern term in any way though

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NortonBurns@reddit

Not since Victorian time, really. Ah, begad, she's a handsome filly, if I may be so bold, Carruthers!

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Fantastic_Double_819@reddit

No absolutely not.

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Astroradical@reddit

It's an occasional thing in the butch and masc lesbian community but that's about it. It was a much more widely-used expression about 100 years ago.

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Total_Inflation_7898@reddit

I've seen it used in old novels but never in my lifetime and I'm old.

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Hollyleaves_@reddit

Not currently and esp not girls. Ive heard my parents generation use it in a non derogatory way and usually it's used for a specific type of beauty like strong features or bold looks.

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ice-lollies@reddit

The word handsome could be used to describe a woman, but it’s quite old fashioned as far as I am aware. Most commonly to describe men, maybe some animals (eg handsome horse), sometimes objects. But I’m quite old now, it could be a new thing for girls.

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Manifestival1@reddit

No.

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PossibleGlad7290@reddit

Never heard of that in my life.

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Overall_Gap_5766@reddit

Handsome is for men, for women it would be pretty or beautiful

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Japhet_Corncrake@reddit

They do not.

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self-conscious_s@reddit

Some English women do look like handsome men, so maybe

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Incident-Putrid@reddit

I’d say your friend is fucking with you.

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floofypantaloon@reddit

Not since Victorian times.

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LouTheOM@reddit

I’ve heard someone before describe a more masculine looking woman as “a handsome woman”, she meant it nastily tbh.

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VeterinarianLost545@reddit

No

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Useful_Piece653@reddit

Not really. That’s defo a backhanded compliment. Like if for example a girl/woman had strong features, someone might say she’s handsome if they are being shady.

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Requirement_Fluid@reddit

Your hunch is correct unless I am also completely out of touch

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Unusual-Biscotti687@reddit

Not normally, no. Wouldn't say there's no dialect that does it, but I don't know one.

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