When “Let Out” Means “Leave Out”

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Oh, hi, this is Terry from Franklin, Indiana.

Hello, Terry in Franklin, Indiana. Welcome to the program. What’s up?

The question I have is about the word let. I’m from Indiana, and I was living in Pennsylvania for a while. I worked at a horse barn, and I went in on a Sunday, and I met the local girl there, and I asked her, were we going to let the stallions out? They were in, you know, for nighttime. And she says, no, let them in. I said, oh, are they already out? But no, we’re going to let them in. Well, how can we let them in if they’re not out? And it became a who’s on first for a couple minutes there until I figured out that she meant leave them in.

So I looked it up. I looked it up, and I discovered that let in the dictionary means to allow to pass. But this is a local thing here, there in Pennsylvania. And I just wondered what your thoughts were.

What part of Pennsylvania was she in? We were near Glen Rock in a small town called Seven Valleys.

Which part of the state is that? It’s east and south.

Okay, gotcha. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Yeah.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense, Terry. Because that’s an area of German settlement. And interestingly enough, there, just as you said, the word let can mean either to leave behind or to allow to remain. And that goes back to the German influence there, because there’s a German verb lassen, which means either to cause something to happen or to permit something to happen. And so you will hear these locutions that might sound a little bit strange if you’re not from that area. You know, like, he told me to leave the stallion go or leave the book, sit right there, which I just think is glorious, that difference. But I can see how that would be sort of a who’s on first, what’s on second kind of moment.

Yeah. Yeah. It took a little bit for me to understand.

Yeah. So it goes back to the German influence in that area and the fact that there’s a German verb that means a couple of different things.

OK. Well, I appreciate you straightening me up on that. Help me understand a little more.

Terry, thank you so much for your call. We really appreciate it.

Well, thanks for taking my call. You guys have a wonderful afternoon.

All right. Bye bye.

All right. Thanks.

Thanks. Bye bye.

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