"sat there" - grammar

"He was sat there all afternoon".

This seems wrong to me, but I hear it all the time.

LOL!

I've never heard that!

Was it said by a teenager?

Actually most recently I heard it on a BBC broadcast. The presenter was describing a clip where a cricket ball flew by this spectator's head and he didn't notice it. The announcer said, "Well he was sat there like nothing had happened..."

In American English it is common to put verbs like "sit" and "stand" in the present continuous, referring to an action in progress, eg "He was sitting there," "They were standing in the rain."

In British English it is common to use the past participle as an adjective, describing a person's physical position, eg "He was sat there," "They were stood in the rain."

Just one of those little linguistic differences that remind us how different countries are different

That is so interesting! I've never noticed it!

My fiance and his friends/family say this too. Example: "I walked into town and there was this woman just sat there" "I was sat there on the train when this man tried to take my seat"

That is so interesting! I've never noticed it!

It's more commonly heard in the north and it's more of a dialect/regional thing rather than correct English.

It's more commonly heard in the north and it's more of a dialect/regional thing rather than correct English.

Agreed, my son says "the thing what I bought" and it drives my mother crazy! It's a northern thing.

It's more commonly heard in the north and it's more of a dialect/regional thing rather than correct English.

I disagree.  It's perfectly correct, and you hear it everywhere.  I live on the south coast and people say it all the time. 

There are several other examples of variations in verb tenses between American and British speakers.  It's not a question of correct vs incorrect, but rather of focus.  If you want to communicate an action in progress, you use present continuous.  If you want to communicate a physical position, you use an adjective.  Both are grammatically correct. 

I could bore you with some other examples if you're still not convinced. 

Agreed, my son says "the thing what I bought" and it drives my mother crazy! It's a northern thing.

This is an entirely different thing.  Here "what" is used non-standardly as a relative pronoun.  So in this case it is a regional variation that is considered incorrect in standard English, it is not a choice between two standard forms as in the previous example. 

I hear this all the time in London, spoken by born and bred Londoners. It does sound funny at first but you get used to it.

Yeah its definitely not just a Northern thing. I hear it all the time in the Midlands.

Cool post historyenne!!! NOT boring to me at all.

I'm totally going to have to try and listen for this now!

historyenne, although it is not just a regional thing, do you think it might be one of those 'class based' things? Or, no?

It's perfectly correct, and you hear it everywhere.  I live on the south coast and people say it all the time.

 

Ahhh, there's the rub.  It's perfectly correct if it's used correctly.    

There are several other examples of variations in verb tenses between American and British speakers.  It's not a question of correct vs incorrect, but rather of focus.  If you want to communicate an action in progress, you use present continuous.  If you want to communicate a physical position, you use an adjective.  Both are grammatically correct.

In the instances that I've heard it, it's been used to indicate an action in progress. So, most definitely grammatically incorrect.

 

Ahhh, there's the rub.  It's perfectly correct if it's used correctly.    
 

In the instances that I've heard it, it's been used to indicate an action in progress. So, most definitely grammatically incorrect.

Examples?

Is 'a rub' like 'a dig'?
Based upon my experience of historyenne, she just knows a lot about languages and grammar.
I highly doubt she is not trying to be mean, or anything like that.
She likes language.