"My" drummer?

[Richard Lindsey]

Very true. There's a persistent notion in some quarters that the United States is a uniculture. Which it is clearly not to anyone who lives or has spent any amount of time here.

Shoot, I live in California, and not even this one state is a monoculture--very far from it. "You Californians" is scarcely less of a broad brush than "You Americans."

Still, there are things that can usefully be generalized about, and sometimes language differences are among them. It's not hard to find things that the majority of Americans say and that the majority of British people don't.

 

[Bassdirty]

My drummer just means the drummer in my band, i.e. the band I am in. It is a quicker way to say "the drummer in the band I am in" because THE drummer does not always refer to the band I am in. Context usually helps with this, but not always.

I don't own a drummer. I do work with a drummer who I prefer to play with, and we are in a couple of bands together.

Hope that clears things up.

^^Exactly this ^^

If I was talking to someone in my band, I would say "our drummer" or .."dave" (if that was his name). But since im talking to a bunch of strangers on the internet, its a lil quicker to the punch to just say MY drummer. (and one less letter to type than typing OUR drummer... and time is money.) Plus, If I was talking to someone on the internet and said "our" drummer, he may get confused and think that we share a common drummer..and that's who I was referring to.... maybe..

 

[Pet Sounds]

@bassobrutto, I suspect most people don't mean to offend, but I absolutely agree with you. I always say, "our drummer," or " the drummer in our band. " I'm a native-born American, but I see it the same way as you do. I kind of bristle on the rare occasions I've been referred to as "my bass player" by a bandmate.

 

[Droopy_TX]

Kudos for the Gramsci name-drop in a thread largely concerned with drummers; haven't seen that one around for a while.

Sorry, um, Richard. You seem to have missed the point.

His complaint is about the use of the word “my” versus “our”.
It’s a thinly veiled attempt to impugn individualism and promote collectivism.

That’s also what Gramscians do.

 

[Beersurgeon]

We haven't had a good troll thread in "our" ranks for awhile!!!!

 

[Richard Lindsey]

Sorry, um, Richard. You seem to have missed the point.

His complaint is about the use of the word “my” versus “our”.
It’s a thinly veiled attempt to impugn individualism and promote collectivism.

That’s also what Gramscians do.

If your point was that there was some collectivist agenda or conspiracy here, then I guess I missed that. I would have thought it both mistaken and irrelevant in any case. I mean, both the point and, if it really existed, the agenda.

 

[bassobrutto]

If your point was that there was some collectivist agenda or conspiracy here, then I guess I missed that. I would have thought it both mistaken and irrelevant in any case. I mean, both the point and, if it really existed, the agenda.

No, Richard, he is actually right. This is actually all part of my dastardly communist plot to collectivize TalkBass! What better way to start a revolution than to ask a seemingly innocent question about cultural differences in the use of possessive pronouns? Actually, what's most interesting to me about the thread is how many Americans share my feelings about those possessive pronouns.

 

[swarfrat]

Implying that one side is being demeaning in their use of it is one of the "better ways".

 

[Chef]

Hey guys:
Discussing regional differences in language use is hardly political in this context.
Let’s keep it that way
Thanks.

 

[nilorius]

May be "my drummer" is that people are too lazy to say "my bands drummer".

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Over the ten years or so I have been visiting this site, it is hard not to notice how often people refer to their bandmates as "my" drummer, "my" guitarist, "my" singer, etc. As a Brit, I would always say "our" drummer, etc., because a band is obviously a "we" not an "I." To my ear, "my" drummer sounds like a kind of servant, someone who shows up to drum for me personally whenever I happen to need a few beats in my life. I click my fingers and he is magically there with me, pounding the skins, whether I am in the woodshed, driving to work, or walking the dog. So why do people talk like this? Is this just America's legendary "rugged individualism" speaking?

I've noticed this also. I've never referred to a band member as "my" anything. It's a band. Just my $0.02.

 

[RustyAxe]

Sometimes I think I've been here too long ... ... I think I'll go pick up something and just play it. Or maybe give my drummer a phone call ...

 

[micguy]

I've been on a number of international standards committees where we had members from the UK. 90 percent of the time, they are a joy to work with, and will help us clean up language so it can be understood on both sides of the pond. Then there's the other 10 percent, where we get into bitchy arguments about.....our language. They probably think w're a pain that 10 percent as well.

 

[TuneIn]

50 cent

...has a drummer, jus sayin.

 

[Sixgunn]

Ya know what’s even weirder? Calling a car hood a bonnet. What the hell is that all about?

Sodding bollocks, init!?!

 

[TuneIn]

 

[Sixgunn]

Shoot, I live in California, and not even this one state is a monoculture--very far from it. "You Californians" is scarcely less of a broad brush than "You Americans."

Still, there are things that can usefully be generalized about, and sometimes language differences are among them. It's not hard to find things that the majority of Americans say and that the majority of British people don't.

I get a kick out of how east coasters say "out in California" and west coasters say "back east".

 

[lfmn16]

He’s my drummer and I’ll fire him if I want

(I actually haven’t played with a drummer for about 15 years)

Me either. Just these guys that beat on drums.

 

[HolmeBass]

OP was right ... to an extent. True, "our" usually implies ownership, but not always. We own "our" basses (I hope!), but we don't own "our" friends. Sometimes "our"--or "my" for that matter--means something more like having a specific relationship to. Which is why I said there was a difference between the two in this context and why it wasn't about ownership.

Yes, I agree with that, and it seems to me the use of “our” and “my” both follow this. So the kerfuffle about the use of one or the other seems pointless. At least here on TB.

So I would agree that context does play a part. If someone approaches the bandstand, talks to a bandmate, and asks, while pointing at you, “Who is that?” It is more polite for your bandmate to respond “our bass player” than “my bass player”. I get that; the band is an entity the questioner knows.

On an Internet forum, however, where the rest of the band is anonymous, perhaps even an abstraction (I play in a number of bands but still might refer to “my guitarist” or “my drummer”), using “my” vs “our” seems identical to me.

 

[aborgman]

Besides definitions, words have connotations in context. That's what this has actually been about.

Sure... and it's blatantly obvious that no one agrees on what connotation they have in this context - or this thread would be one post long.

The problem is that the word DOESN'T have a socially agreed upon connotation in this context.