Fixin’

 

Fixing to Do Something

 

Using Idioms

 

“Fixing” in the sense of fixing to is usually pronounced “fixin’” but sometimes it is “finna.”

 I’m fixing to go to town.

He’s fixin’ to make a mistake.

I’m finna to leave.

 In the South, “fixin’” seems to be necessary to express the idea that someone is preparing to do something. The Midwesterners don’t need to say it, but folks say it all over the South and as far north as Maine and the state of Washington. Throughout New England some speakers say it, while others frown on it.

 Southerners have other ways of expressing the idea, which are not much better.  Some of these expressions have slightly different nuances of meaning. 

I’m going to finish my homework.

She’s gonna take her brother to the amusement park.

We’re getting ready to catch the bus.

           Some people trying to sound slightly more sophisticated are heard using the word about, but about isn’t grammatically logical.

We’re about to go.

Here’s a grammatically correct expression acceptable to most North Americans’ ears, but it does not convey the sense of immediacy as “fixing to.”                                                                                        

 Jeff is planning to…

The purpose of this discussion is not to make speakers sound stuffy by speaking in a formal, affected way, even though there are times when writers of business correspondence need to use formal English.

Our company is preparing to change its policy.

 Fixing is a well-established, colorful idiom, which doesn’t sound good to most of us when we stop to think about it. English spoken in different countries is full of a variety of useful idioms. English is an idiomatic language. The idioms used differ from one area to another, and they give our language a richness. Saying “fixing” may provoke ridicule from some people. If you are making a presentation or giving a speech, consider using a less colorful expression.

 Omitting the g at the end of an ing word is another subject.

 For more information about fixing to, google Yale Grammatical Diversity Project, English in North America, https://ygdp.yale.edu 

or The Free Dictionary, https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com