In the morning/Of the morning

[Gudy]

While reading the works of an amateur/indie writer, I've stumbled upon a phrase that I'd never before seen used in that particular way (whereas he's using it that way constantly). Instead of "I have coffee in the morning" he's always phrasing it as "I have coffee of the morning".

Google was no help whatsover in pinpointing the distribution - geographic or otherwise - of this particular usage, except for one paper which at least established that this seems to be an acknowledged local variation but provided no further information.

So I'm turning to this learned - or at least well-read - forum: Where in the world is it common to hear the phrase "of the morning/evening/noon/night/whatever" instead of "in the morning/..."?

[pdurrant]

I've never heard 'of' used that way, unless there was a ordinal qualifier. "My first coffee of the morning".

So it's not a southern English phrase.

[Sydney's Mom]

Never heard of that, either. In is correct (grammar police).

[arjaybe]

The phrase "of a morning" is acceptable in certain contexts (indicating habitual use.) I think you could push it to include "the" if you wanted to. This would be in regional vernacular.

I've never heard that phrasing either, and cannot imagine anywhere that "of" could be used in that way. However, the English empire once spanned the globe and never saw the setting sun, so perhaps some little island in the middle of no where uses it that way.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

The phrase "of a morning" is acceptable in certain contexts (indicating habitual use.) I think you could push it to include "the" if you wanted to. This would be in regional vernacular.

So as the only contributor in this thread so far who has even heard of this thing, you get saddled with the follow-up question: This would be in regional vernacular of which region? Canada? Northern US? If so, which part(s) of it?

I've had a (completely unfounded, I admit) suspicion that it might be an Upper Peninsula or Minnesota thing due to some other linguistic weirdnesses going on in that area, stemming back from the large pool of northern European immigrants in the past. So I'm intrigued that you're from Canada whereas a Brit, a Texan and a Chicagoan all have - like me - never heard of this thing.

[Terisa de morgan]

It looks like a direct translation of a Spanish expression "Mi café de la mañana" (my morning coffee).

[Bilbo1967]

Like Arjaybe, I've heard "of a morning" but not "of the morning".

Does the nationality/location of the author offer any clues?

[Wetdogeared]

I've heard/read this before, but don't know where.
I take it as:

"I have [my habitual/ritual/usual] coffee of the morning"

[badgoodDeb]

I've heard of "of a morning", but doesn't it have a slightly different meaning, compared to "in the morning"?

Ah, here:
Definition "of an evening" or "of a morning" (1) on most evenings/mornings (2) at some time in the evenings/ mornings.

Examples: People will say: He usually comes round here about 8 o'clock of an evening, or 10 o'clock of a morning, or of a Saturday afternoon.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by Gudy

So as the only contributor in this thread so far who has even heard of this thing, you get saddled with the follow-up question: This would be in regional vernacular of which region? Canada? Northern US? If so, which part(s) of it?

I've had a (completely unfounded, I admit) suspicion that it might be an Upper Peninsula or Minnesota thing due to some other linguistic weirdnesses going on in that area, stemming back from the large pool of northern European immigrants in the past. So I'm intrigued that you're from Canada whereas a Brit, a Texan and a Chicagoan all have - like me - never heard of this thing.

I got the impression that it's used in some of the southern states. "He used to like a nice big cup of coffee of a morning." Some of the ranchers around here also like to talk that way sometimes.

[badgoodDeb]

I'm PA and Chicago, but I've mostly only READ the phrase, so I can't tell about locality. Maybe it's an OLDER phrase .... any Jane Eyre or Charles Dickens readers around here?

Originally Posted by arjaybe

I got the impression that it's used in some of the southern states. "He used to like a nice big cup of coffee of a morning." Some of the ranchers around here also like to talk that way sometimes.

My ancestors have lived in Texas since the 1830s, but I've never heard that usage by anyone here. It is possible some in the deep south might use it, but again not that I've ever heard.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

I got the impression that it's used in some of the southern states. "He used to like a nice big cup of coffee of a morning." Some of the ranchers around here also like to talk that way sometimes.

Hmm, the Deep South was my other candidate region, but since jswinden (who's from Texas) said he'd never heard of it, I'd kinda dismissed that idea.

Oh well, it looks increasingly like we won't get to the root of it, so I just may have to live with it bugging me like crazy. :-P

[timebug]

Laurel and Hardy had some dialogue, (I think in 'Way Out West')
where Stan said someone had died.Ollie asked 'What did he die
of?' and Stan replied 'He died of a tuesday'.
And I too have heard the expression 'of A morning' but not in any
other context.