Is this a Somerset-ism?

[Mouse]

Ok, I honestly thought this was a general expression (still kinda do) but I've thought that before about things which have turned out to be west country specific - having been told by forum members that they had no idea what I was on about so... it's time for me to ask again.

A beta has just flagged this up as having no idea what I meant and I've just asked my partner (Essex) who also had no idea.

Yer tis:

"Lookout" to mean problem.

As is:

"Joan missed the train because she was too lazy to get out of bed."

"Well, that's her lookout."

 

[Ursa major]

I had thought that it was a general thing...

...and I still do.

 

[Mouse]

I'm 99% convinced it is!

 

[nixie]

I thought it was a common saying.

 

[Onyx]

I am in the US, but have never seen that term in UK fiction used that way. "Lookout" is someone who watches for the cops (or whomever) and alerts someone if they are coming.

 

[Mouse]

Yeah, it means that too.

 

[Onyx]

Yeah, it means that too.

The two meanings are likely related, but many English readers only know the one I posted. And that's after watching all those UK television shows/films and reading UK fiction - it seems like a relatively rare usage that might confuse your readers - at least outside some part of the UK.

 

[Mouse]

I've had three American publishers, so I know how easily confused things can get! I'll likely just change the word to 'problem'.

 

[Alex The G and T]

I've heard in in the US; but it's not common.
It doesn't seem difficult to figure out what it means.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

It’s used here in Deepest Belfast

 

[Ursa major]

This is meaning 5 in Wiktionary's entry on lookout:

One's perspective, outlook; hence, one's responsibility. (used with a possessive pronoun or a noun in a possessive form). Quotation**
Every man's interest is his own lookout.

It doesn't mention it as being specific to the UK.

** - The quotation Wiktionary uses is:

1919, W. Somerset Maugham The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 27:

"Strickland's painting in my studio."​

"Well?"​

[…]​

"Strickland can't work with anyone else in the studio."​

"Damn it all, it's your studio. That's his lookout."​

So, in a way, it is a Somerset-ism (specifically a W. Somerset Maugham-ism...).

 

[Abernovo]

It's quite widely used, in my experience. How much it's used outwith the UK, I'm not sure.

Definitely not a Somerset thing. Also heard it used as two words, by way of, 'she'll have to look out for herself'. So, I always took 'lookout' in this sense to mean responsibility, rather than problem.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

The Cambridge Dictionary (online) indicates that the use of 'lookout' to tell someone they are responsible for their own problems, e.g. 'It's your own lookout if you're not properly insured' is 'UK informal'. There's no indication that the usage is restricted to a specific region, although it is possible that CD online isn't concerned with the finer distinctions, re. regional cants. And as @Alex The G and T noted, it's not difficult to fathom the term's meaning, from context.

 

[Onyx]

The Cambridge Dictionary (online) indicates that the use of 'lookout' to tell someone they are responsible for their own problems, e.g. 'It's your own lookout if you're not properly insured' is 'UK informal'. There's no indication that the usage is restricted to a specific region, although it is possible that CD online isn't concerned with the finer distinctions, re. regional cants. And as @Alex The G and T noted, it's not difficult to fathom the term's meaning, from context.

It isn't hard, but it is distracting if you've never seen it before. So it may be something best saved for a character that is supposed to sound more "regional" if you are writing for an international audience. Obviously this came up because even people in Essex didn't know it.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

Surely it's not very distracting? I've had more trouble parsing lengthy sentences with no punctuation in them, than I had figuring out the meaning of "lookout", as used. Although that could be a matter of experience, I don't know.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I thought it was a general thing. Not commonly American, but known here. I'd figure it for mostly a UK usage, but perfectly understandable.

 

[Danny McG]

If your beta didn't understand it then that's their lookout

 

[Onyx]

Surely it's not very distracting? I've had more trouble parsing lengthy sentences with no punctuation in them, than I had figuring out the meaning of "lookout", as used. Although that could be a matter of experience, I don't know.

It's not a big deal, I'm just saying that playing decoder disrupts the reading of something that is not supposed to be interrupted. And the main reason it distracts is that the word has another meaning that the untraveled reader is going to first assume then have to rethink. With all the discussion about "taking the reader out of the story", it seems reasonable to at least consider other ways this might occur.

Since it is being used as a synonym to "problem" and even people in the UK don't know it, I could certainly see reserving its use for when the author wants the speaker to sound like they are definitely from somewhere or are being informal.

Ta for listening.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

If your beta didn't understand it then that's their lookout

A hit, a very palpable hit.

 

[Shorewalker]

I'm from Liverpool...waaaaaaaaay distant from the west country...and it's always been in use as long as I've lived.