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    Use of "happen" instead of "coming across" (maybe Irish phrasing?)

    7­ Replies
    Topic

    Use of "happen" instead of "coming across" (maybe Irish phrasing?)

    Comment

    Hiya everybody,

    I'm currently reading "Conversations with Friends" by Sally Rooney, an Irish author.


    There's one sentence I'm curious about, which is "I'd happened on a whole selection of shirtless photographs [of a person mentioned before], most of which showed him looking younger (…)"


    In this context, I understand that "to happen on something" is used instead of "to come across something". I wonder whether this is a typical phrasing in Ireland. Or is it also used somewhere else?


    Thanks!

    Mary

    Author MaryQueenOfPots (1386528)  04 May 23, 20:24
    Comment

    I know it from England, too.


    (Nice nick :-)

    #1Author Gibson (418762) 04 May 23, 20:34
    Comment

    Yes to happen on or to happen upon mean to come across. Now I'm curious whether this phrasal use of happen is known or unknown in AE.

    #2Author amw (532814) 04 May 23, 21:06
    Comment

    Ich halte das für universal, nicht auf eine Sprachvariante beschränkt. Aber möglicherweise "gehoben" oder "veraltend".


    Steht auch in (amerikanischen) Wörterbüchern ohne BE-Markierung.


    4

    a

    : to meet or discover something by chance

    happened upon a system that worked

    —Richard Corbin


    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/happen


    2. To encounter something by chance: I happened upon an interesting article in the newspaper.


    https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html...


    happen on ​DEFINITIONS AND SYNONYMS

    PHRASAL VERB

    TRANSITIVE

    ​OLD-FASHIONED

    or

    happen upon

    WORD FORMS

    +

    DEFINITIONS1

    1. 1
    2. (happen on someone/something) to meet someone or to find something without planning to


    https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionar...




    #3Author Jalapeño (236154) 05 May 23, 07:16
    Comment

    I can't say that I'd actively use it myself, but I, too, would consider it perfectly normal fo AE.

    Interesting that Macmillan lists it as old-fashioned for both BE and AE, but that's not included in M-W and AHD. Personally, I wouldn't categorize it as that, although I'm older than Methuselah.

    #4Author hbberlin (420040) 05 May 23, 10:00
    Comment

    Not even as old as Methuselah yet (969) but I don’t find it old-fashioned either. And synonymous with it: “to chance on,” as here (Ian McKellen): 02.11.2021 — I chanced on a photo of the 17 year old Millie Anna outside. @TheatreWindsor., Martin Shaw and me in the background.

    #5AuthorBion (1092007)  05 May 23, 10:11
    Comment

    Ich habe den Ausdruck in Büchern gelesen. Aber typisch Irisch ist das nicht. Wird meiner Erfahrung nach nicht umgangssprachlich verwendet.

    #6Author Wik (237414) 05 May 23, 10:12
    Comment

    Thank you so much for your answers! Very helpful.

    #7Author MaryQueenOfPots (1386528) 17 May 23, 22:48
     
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